Nepenthes alata
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Nepenthes alata |
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| Blanco |
Nepenthes alata is a carnivorous plant belonging to the genus pitcher plants ( Nepenthes ). It is native to the Philippines . It was first described by Francisco Manuel Blanco in 1837.
description
Nepenthes alata is a climbing plant, its stem axis is between four and eight millimeters thick and up to four meters high.
The leathery leaves are formed at regular intervals of 1.5 to four centimeters along the stem axis. At each node there is a winged leaf stalk up to five centimeters long , which merges into an up to twenty-five centimeter long and slightly more than five centimeter wide, narrow elliptical or, conversely, lanceolate to spatulate leaf blade , which, in the strict sense, is just a reshaped leaf base represents. This is divided by a central rib, from its base two to four side ribs run close to it.
Your pitchers are green to reddish, up to 20 centimeters long and 6 centimeters wide, bulbous at the bottom and cylindrical at the top. In addition, Nepenthes alata has two tooth strips that are not hard and pointed.
In 2005, the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research carried out investigations into the condition of the wax coating on the inside of the can. It turned out that a double layer of wax is formed. The upper, softer layer consists of platelet-shaped, stalked crystals, which in turn rest on a harder, pointed wax layer. The crystals of the upper layer stick together the adhesive hairs of the insect legs, the lower layer additionally minimizes the adhesive contact by reducing the surface. Hybrids of Nepenthes alata and Nepenthes ventricosa are often found commercially, as these are particularly easy to cultivate and very vigorous, but are often declared as pure N. alata.
distribution
The species is native to the Philippine highlands, at altitudes of 400 to 2400 meters. It grows in mossy forests, occasionally on soils on ultra-basic rock.
literature
- Martin Cheek, Matthew Jebb: Nepenthaceae (= Flora Malesiana. Ser. 1: Spermatophyta. Vol. 15). Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Leiden 2001, ISBN 90-71236-49-8 .
- E. Gorb, K. Haas, A. Henrich, S. Enders, N. Barbakadze, S. Gorb: Composite structure of the crystalline epicuticular wax layer of the slippery zone in the pitchers of the carnivorous plant Nepenthes alata and its effect on insect attachment. In: The Journal of Experimental Biology. Vol. 208, No. 24, 2005, ISSN 0022-0949 , pp. 4651-4662, doi : 10.1242 / jeb.01939 .
Web links
- Nepenthes alata at www.fleischfressendepflanzen.de
- Nepenthes alata in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006 Posted by: Clarke et al , 2000. Retrieved on 12 May, 2006.