Nepenthes paniculata

Description

Nepenthes paniculata (; from Latin: panicula "panicle") is a tropical pitcher plant belonging to the genus Nepenthes. Nepenthes paniculata is probably endemic to Mount Doorman Top in New Guinea (03°28′01″S 138°26′59″E). It has been recorded from mossy forest on a ridge top at 1,460 m altitude. No forms or varieties of this species have been described. It may form natural hybrids with N. papuana. In 1994, A. Wistuba, H. Rischer, B. Baumgartl, and B. Kistler explored Doorman Top in search of N. paniculata but found no Nepenthes other than N. lamii (then known as N. vieillardii) and N. maxima. However, they climbed a different slope to the one from which N. paniculata was originally collected. In August 2013, the species was rediscovered by a team consisting of Holger Gossner, Thomas Gronemeyer, David Marwinski, Stewart McPherson, Marius Micheler, Joachim Nerz, Andreas Wistuba, and Urs Zimmermann. This expedition was the first to document the lower pitchers, which resemble those of N. merrilliana and related species from the Philippines. -