Nepenthes albomarginata

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Nepenthes albomarginata
Nepenthes albomarginata

Nepenthes albomarginata

Systematics
Eudicotyledons
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family : Pitcher family (Nepenthaceae)
Genre : Pitcher plants ( Nepenthes )
Type : Nepenthes albomarginata
Scientific name
Nepenthes albomarginata
T. Lobb ex Lindl.

Nepenthes albomarginata is a carnivorous plant from the genus of pitcher plants ( Nepenthes ). It wasfirst describedby the botanist John Lindley around 1849. Its specific epithet “albomarginata” isborrowed fromthe Latin words alba (German “white”) and marginatus (German “collar” or “hem”) and refers to the white border under the jug opening.

description

Vegetative characteristics

Nepenthes albomarginata is a perennial , evergreen subshrub whose shoots climb and can grow to be several meters long. They lignify with age and side shoots are often formed from the wood .

The leaves of Nepenthes albomarginata are narrow-linear and are up to 25 cm long. Their surface is matt and glossy.

Floor pot
Air can

The pitchers of Nepenthes albomarginata show a clear dimorphism . The bottom pitchers are jug-shaped with clearly fanned wing strips. Even when they are young, they have the eponymous white border under the jug opening.

The air cans are slim, cylindrical-tubular and almost without a wing bar. They also have the typical white border under the can opening. The color of the pitchers depends on the light; in the shade they remain light green, but in the sunlight they take on a dark red-violet. They become up to 16 cm long.

Flowers and seeds

Nepenthes albomarginata forms dioecious ( dioecious ) flowers on panicles up to 60 cm long . The flowers have four petals and are maroon colored.

Chromosome number

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 80.

distribution

Nepenthes albomarginata is found on Borneo and Sumatra . It is one of the so-called lowland species, so it only occurs below 1000  m . It prefers to grow in swampy forest areas.

ecology

Nepenthes albomarginata is notable because it is the only carnivorous plant that specializes in a single prey, it catches almost exclusively aboveground termites from the subfamily Nasutitermitinae (e.g. Hospitalitermes bicolor ).

The biologist Marlis Merbach examined the phenomenon in a team with Ulrich Maschwitz , Georg Zizka and others and found out that the white, eponymous edge of the jug consists of fine, short trichomes that can easily be picked by the termites. These trichomes are obviously of great importance for the termites, they probably serve as food. Merbach found out that pitchers with a completely “harvested” edge are much less interesting for termites than pitchers with a white edge that is still completely intact. The assumptions were confirmed by the fact that hundreds to thousands of dead animals were found in cans that had already been harvested, and only a few in those that were still untouched. The animals fall into the cans during harvesting; if the edge is worn away, the termites pull away. The researchers believe that Nepenthes albomarginata is a unique case in which a carnivorous plant specifically uses bait to get at a specific prey.

literature

  • Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Birkhäuser, Basel et al. 1996, ISBN 3-7643-2390-6 .
  • Charles Clarke: Nepenthes of Borneo. Natural History Publications et al., Kota Kinabalu et al. 1997, ISBN 983-812-015-4 , pp. 62-64.
  • Martin Cheek, Matthew Jebb: Nepenthaceae (= Flora Malesiana. Ser. 1: Spermatophyta. Vol. 15). Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Leiden 2001, ISBN 90-71236-49-8 , pp. 31-32.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. 1996, p. 49.
  2. ^ Nepenthes albomarginata at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  3. ↑ Marlis A. Merbach, Dennis J. Merbach, Ulrich Maschwitz , Webber E. Booth, Brigitte Fiala, Georg Zizka : Carnivorous plants: Mass march of termites into the deadly trap. In: Nature . Volume 415, No. 6867, 2002, pp. 36-37, doi : 10.1038 / 415036a .

Web links

Commons : Nepenthes albomarginata  - album with pictures, videos and audio files