Nepenthes truncata
| Nepenthes truncata | ||||||||||||
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Nepenthes truncata , air can |
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| Nepenthes truncata | ||||||||||||
| Macfarl. |
Nepenthes truncata is a pitcher plant species from the pitcher plant family(Nepenthaceae). It was described by John Muirhead Macfarlane in 1911. The specific epithet truncata comes from the Latin word truncatus and means "mutilated", which refers to the deeply incised leaves and unusually short tendrils.
description
Vegetative characteristics
Nepenthes truncata is a subshrub that becomes woody in the lower area with age and reaches heights of growth of up to 1 meter. Although it does not grow very quickly, it increases in size all the more quickly and can reach a considerable size at a young age.
Nepenthes truncata is one of the few Nepenthes species that can be recognized by its leaf shape alone, as the leaves are conspicuously heart-shaped. In addition, the leaf and tendril are covered with distinctive hairs.
As a young plant, Nepenthes truncata mainly forms ground pitchers (see illustration) that are velvety hairy, have sweeping wing strips and have a very wide peristome . In old age, air cans appear that are more elegant and more amphora-shaped (see cover picture). The peristome is now more rolled back and the wing strips are severely receded. The smooth layer of wax and the small, downward-facing hairs on the inner walls work like a slide. The air cans can be more than 50 cm long and are among the largest traps of the Nepenthes genus .
Flowers and seeds
Like all Nepenthes species, Nepenthes truncata is dioecious, separate sexes ( dioecious ). It forms panicle-shaped inflorescences up to 80 cm in length. The flowers can be rust-colored or greenish.
The seeds are transported by insects.
Chromosome number
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 80.
Occurrence and protection status
Nepenthes truncata is endemic to Mindanao in the Philippines , where it grows on open mountain slopes at altitudes of 230 to 1500 meters. There is a highland and a lowland form.
It is classified as "Endangered" by the IUCN and is also listed in Appendix 2 of the Washington Convention on Endangered Species .
Others
In September 2006 an already half-digested mouse was discovered in the jug of a Nepenthes truncata in the Botanical Garden of Lyon . Although the find was made in culture and far away from the natural site, it is remarkable because for the first time photographs of the capture of a mammal by a carnivore could be made and this is also the first evidence of a capture of a mammal by a Nepenthes truncata . Previously there were only reports of such sightings at Nepenthes rajah . Other mice that do not try to bite through the plant but drown were described in Germany in 2007 and 2008.
Individual evidence
- ^ Nepenthes truncata at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ↑ Nepenthes truncata in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006 Posted by: Clarke et al , 2000. Retrieved on 11 May, 2006.
- ↑ http://www.nachrichten.ch/detail/253646.htm
- ↑ http://www.hartmeyer.de/ArtikelundBerichte/artdeutscheMaus_D.html
- ↑ http://www.hartmeyer.de/ArtikelundBerichte/artTruncata_Maus2008_D.html
