Nepenthes kurata

Nepenthes kurata

Synonymy

Nepenthes kurata Jebb & Cheek in Eur. J. Taxon. 69: 6. 2013 [Named as a noun in apposition for Shigeo Kurata, whose book on the Nepenthes of Mount Kinabalu (Kurata 1976) inspired interest in the genus among its many readers, and whose descriptions of Nepenthes are models of detail, precision and clarity.C]. sec. Cheek & Jebb 2014 wfo-0001302572

Type: PHILIPPINES. Mindanao, “Prov. of Misamis, Mount Malindang”. May 1906, Mearns & Hutchinson in Forest Bureau 4632 (holotype K!; isotype PH!).

• =Nepenthes alata var. ecristata Macfarl. in Engler, Pflanzenr. IV. 111 (Heft 36): 72. 1908 syn. sec. Cheek & Jebb 2001 wfo-0001302508
Lectotype (designated by Cheek & Jebb 2013: 61): Lectotype Philippines, Mindanao, “Prov. of Misamis, Mount Malindang”, May 1906, Mearns & Hutchinson in Forest Bureau 4632 (lecto-: K!; isolecto-: PH!).

• 1. Cheek, M. R. & Jebb, M. H. P. 2013: Recircumscription of the Nepenthes alata group (Caryophyllales: Nepenthaceae), in the Philippines, with four new species. – European Journal of Taxonomy 69

Content

• Description
• Notes
• Conservation
• Distribution (General)
• Habitat
• Bibliography

Description

Terrestrial shrub-climber, height unknown. Climbing stems terete to slightly angular, 4–6 mm diam.; internodes 30–50 mm long; axillary buds not evident; indumentum inconspicuous, persistent to the fifth internode from the apex, hairs translucent brown, simple or 2–3-armed from the base, hairs straight, variously angled from the horizontal, ca. 0.1 mm long, covering ca. 5% of the surface except the axils (100% coverage) surface brown-black, matt. Leaves of rosette shoots thinly coriaceous, blade narrowly elliptic, 8–9 × 2–2.5 cm; apex and base acute; longitudinal nerves 1–2 pairs, within 2 mm of the margin, moderately conspicuous on both surfaces; pennate nerves at 90° from the midrib, numerous and moderately conspicuous; upper surface drying glossy pale brown, lower surface matt, mid-brown. Leaves of climbing stems as the rosette leaves, but blades suboblong or oblong-lanceolate 10–12.5 × 3.2–3.8 cm; apex obtuse or acute; base obtuse; lower surface with sessile red glands ca. 0.5 mm diam.; midrib 40–60% covered in patent, brown, simple or basally bifurcate-trifurcate hairs 0.1–0.3(–0.5) mm long; margin fringed, in young leaves, with hairs 0.25 mm long, pale-brown, 1–4-armed from the base. Petiole winged-canaliculate, 4–5 × 0.7 cm, wings patent; base clasping the stem for ⅓ to ½ its circumference, sometimes decurrent as an obtuse ridge to the node below. Lower pitchers unknown. Intermediate pitchers (tendrils uncoiled: Mearns & Hutchinson 4632) 12.5–17.2 cm long, ellipsoid in the basal third to half, 4–5.7 cm wide, constricted, more or less abruptly, 5–7.5 cm from the base into the subcylindrical upper part, 2.1–3 cm diam. dilating slightly towards the apex 3–4 cm diam.; outer surface strongly reticulated with raised nerves when dry, 2–5% covered in hairs of two types, (1) large erect hairs 0.3–0.75 mm long, with a single, major, curved arm, and 1–2 much smaller erect arms, and (2) minute, 3–6-armed stellate hairs 0.05–0.1 mm diam., which are more frequent, (ca. 4 per mm2); surface covered throughout (6–10 per mm2) with sessile, depressedglobose glands 0.1–0.2 mm diam.; fringed wings reduced to ridges except in the ca. 25 mm below the peristome, widening to 3 mm broad, with fringed elements 2.5 mm long, 2–5 mm apart; mouth oblique, suborbicular, ovate, 3–4.8 × 2.7–4.5 cm; apex with a column 9–10 mm long; peristome rounded to slightly flattened, 2–2.5 mm wide, more or less even in width, ribs 0.25–0.5 mm apart, conspicuous, about 0.1 mm high, outer edge lacking lobes, inner edge with very short teeth and conspicuous holes, teeth < 0.1 mm long. Lid much smaller than the mouth, ovate, or broadly ovate, 25–35 × 25–30 mm, apex rounded to obtuse, base rounded to truncate; lower surface with a low basal ridge ca. 1 mm high, 7–10 mm long, either lacking a protruding appendage entirely or with a modestly developed appendage 1–2 mm high; nectar glands only slightly dimorphic, (1) midline nectar glands sparse, longitudinally elliptic, 0.5–0.7 × 0.1–0.25 mm, with a thin marginal rim, (2) outside the midline nectar glands circular, sparse, < 1 per mm2, only 35–50 on each side of the midline, the largest scattered in the distal half, 0.5 mm diam., grading down to those of the marginal equatorial areas ca. 0.25 mm diam., and those at the attachment point with the peristome and the basal ridge and appendage, 0.15 mm diam.; sessile depressed-globose minute red glands 0.1–0.2 mm diam. are scattered over the surface at a density of 3–8 glands per mm2; minute inconspicuous stellate hairs ca. 0.075 mm diam. occur in an uneven, 0.5–1 mm wide band, near the margin widening to 1.5 mm wide at the lid apex. Spur unbranched, curving downwards, stout at base and tapering to a slender apex, ca. 5 mm long, with scattered long, subpatent hairs 0.3–0.7 mm long. Upper pitchers (tendril coiled, Gaerlan et al. in PPI 10914) resembling the intermediate pitchers, but fringed wings 1–2 mm wide, fringed elements 2.5 mm long, (2–)4–5 mm apart, dilating to 4.5 cm below the mouth; pitcher green, peristome maroon. Lid broadly ovate to suborbicular 32 × 35 mm, lower surface with a basal ridge 9–10 mm long, ca. 2 mm high, bearing a central, symmetrical, protruding appendage 2 × 3 mm; nectar glands denser, ca. 110 on each side of the midline. Male and female inflorescences and infructescences unknown. A

Notes

According to Gronemeyer et al 2016 in Plants 5(2), this should be treated as a synonym of N. ramos.B

Conservation

Assessed as Critically Endangered under Criterion D of IUCN (2012) since currently only two individuals, probably at a single location (as currently defined by IUCN) are known.A

Distribution (General)

Philippines, MindanaoA

Habitat

Evergreen forest, volcanic substrates. Elevation: ca. 1400 m.A

Bibliography

A. Cheek, M. R. & Jebb, M. H. P. 2013: Recircumscription of the Nepenthes alata group (Caryophyllales: Nepenthaceae), in the Philippines, with four new species. – European Journal of Taxonomy 69

B. Berendsohn, W. G. & al. 2018: Using the EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy to prepare and publish a treatment for the Caryophyllales Network: an online synthesis of the Nepenthaceae. – Willdenowia 48: 335-344. https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.48.48301

Specimens

	Country	Date	Collector + collecting number	Herbaria	Type	Scan	Derivatives
	Lectotype Philippines, Mindanao, “Prov. of Misamis, Mount Malindang”, May 1906, Mearns & Hutchinson in Forest Bureau 4632 (lecto-: K!; isolecto-: PH!).
	Citation: Lectotype Philippines, Mindanao, “Prov. of Misamis, Mount Malindang”, May 1906, Mearns & Hutchinson in Forest Bureau 4632 (lecto-: K!; isolecto-: PH!).
	PHILIPPINES. Mindanao, “Prov. of Misamis, Mount Malindang”. May 1906, Mearns & Hutchinson in Forest Bureau 4632 (holotype K!; isotype PH!).
	Citation: PHILIPPINES. Mindanao, “Prov. of Misamis, Mount Malindang”. May 1906, Mearns & Hutchinson in Forest Bureau 4632 (holotype K!; isotype PH!).