Reinwardt's pitcher-plant

Description

Nepenthes reinwardtiana is a tropical pitcher plant native to Borneo and Sumatra and to a number of smaller surrounding islands including Bangka, Natuna, Nias, and Siberut. Although some sources have included Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore within the range of this species, these records appear to be erroneous. Nepenthes reinwardtiana has an unusually wide altitudinal distribution of 0–2200 m, being both a "lowland" and "highland" plant. There are many different colour forms, ranging from green to dark red. This species is known for the two "eye spots" on the inside surface of its pitchers. The specific epithet reinwardtiana honours Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt. The species has been given the vernacular name Reinwardt's pitcher-plant. Nepenthes naquiyuddinii was described in 2006 by J. H. Adam and Hafiza A. Hamid. The taxon is only known from Keningau-Kimanis Road and the foot of Mount Trus Madi, both in Sabah, Borneo, where it grows at an elevation of 1400 to 1424 m in open secondary vegetation. Although acknowledging close affinities between N. naquiyuddinii and N. reinwardtiana, Adam and Hafiza stated that the "two species exhibit many morphological differences and therefore they cannot be united into the same species". However, some authors consider these differences too small for species status and treat N. naquiyuddinii as a heterotypic synonym of N. reinwardtiana. Alternatively, N. naquiyuddinii may represent a natural hybrid involving N. fusca and N. reinwardtiana, the only species that are sympatric with it. Nepenthes is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus comprises about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are mostly liana-forming plants of the Old World tropics, ranging from South China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines; westward to Madagascar (two species) and the Seychelles (one); southward to Australia (four) and New Caledonia (one); and northward to India (one) and Sri Lanka (one). The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines, with many endemic species. Many are plants of hot, humid, lowland areas, but the majority are tropical montane plants, receiving warm days but cool to cold, humid nights year round. A few are considered tropical alpine, with cool days and nights near freezing.