Nepenthes lamii
Synonymy
Nepenthes lamii in Blumea 42(1): 54. 1997 [The species is named after Professor Herman Lam who made the first collections of this plant during the Van Overeem expedition to Mt. Doorman in 1920.D]. sec. Cheek & Jebb 2001
- Isotype: New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Doorman Top, alt. 3200 m, 17 Oct 1920, Lam 1637 (BO)
- Holotype: New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Doorman Top, alt. 3200 m, 17 Oct 1920, Lam 1637 (BO)
Description
Shrub or climber to 2-3 m tall. Stem rounded or angular, often greatly contracted, 0.1-0.6 mm diam., internodes up to 8 cm long. Leaves thinly coriaceous, sessile, those of climbing stems lanceolate, 5-14 by 1.2-2.8 cm, apex acute, base decurrent as converging wings or ridges for c. 2 cm below the node. Longitudinal nerves (0-)3 or 4 (or 5) on each side of the midrib in outer 1/3-1/4 of the lamina. Pennate nerves distinct or indistinct, running obliquely from midrib and forming an irregular network in the outer 1/2 of the blade, fairly conspicuous. Lower pitchers obovoid throughout, or somewhat cylindric above, c. 11 by 4 cm, with 2 fringed wings up to 8 mm broad, the fringe ele-ments to 4 mm long, or the wings reduced to 2 ridges; mouth suborbicular, straight, oblique; peristome 1-5 mm broad, ribs 0.3-0.5 mm apart, outer edge entire, teeth on inner margin to 0.3 mm long; lid orbicular, flat, 2.5-4 cm diam., apex rounded, base rounded to cordate, lower surface lacking appendages but often with the midline thickened into a low keel c. 1 mm high, nectar glands throughout, dense, orbicular, thinly bordered, 0.1-0.2 mm diam., 1500-2000 glands/cm2, larger (0.4 mm long) and longitudinally elliptic along midline; less usually much larger, 3 mm diam. overall with thickened borders (1.5 mm within borders); spur simple, sometimes flattened, 1-5 mm long. Upper pitchers cylindrical, slightly constricted in the upper 1/2, rarely obovoid throughout, 4-14 by 1-3 cm, lacking fringed wings, otherwise as the lower pitcher. Male inflorescence 8.5-14 cm long; often much contracted; peduncles 5.5-7 cm long, 2 mm diam. at base; partial peduncles 1-flowered; pedicels to 10 mm long; bracts absent; tepals elliptic, 2.2-3 by 1.8-3.3 mm; androphore 1.5-2.5 mm long; anther head 0.7-1.25 by 1.5 mm. Indumentum very sparse, sparsely woolly-scurfy, pale brown, 0.2-0.4 mm long on new innovations, but becoming glabrescent except on inflorescence and tendril where inconspicuously puberulent with patent simple, black hairs c. 0.3 mm long. Colour of pitchers green, the peristome red, interior of pitcher pale green, sometimes suffused with red.A
Notes
1. Once treated as an outlying population of the New Caledonian N. vieillardii from which it can be distinguished by its almost glabrous nature (vs. sparse to dense white hairs c. 1 mm long in N. vieillardii). Nepenthes lamii also has somewhat more widely spaced peristome ribs (0.3-0.4 mm apart vs. 0.2-0.3 mm in N. vieillardii) and denser nectar glands on the underside of the lid: 1500-2000 glands/cm2 (vs. 75-100 glands/cm2 in N. vieillardii). Nepenthes lamii is a variable species: at high altitudes in grassland it becomes a dwarfed and stunted shrublet (e.g. Lam 1637 & 1654) whilst specimens from moss forest at lower altitude are slender climbers. Some of the collections from the Hellwig Mts (Pulle 803, Von Römer 1037) are very small, delicate plants. In some collections, notably the type specimen, the tendrils are densely glandular.A
3. The species is named after Professor Herman Lam, who made the first collections of this plant during the Van Overeem Expedition to Mt Doorman in 1920.A
Distribution (General)
New Guinea: Irian Jaya (Mts Doorman and Erica).A
Specimens
| Country | Date | Collector + collecting number | Herbaria | Type | Scan | Derivatives | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920-10-17 | Lam 1637 | BO(2) |  | ||||
| Citation: New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Doorman Top, alt. 3200 m, 17 Oct 1920, Lam 1637 Specimen summary: BO Isotype of Nepenthes lamii Jebb & Cheek | |||||||