Nepenthes tentaculata
Description
Terrestrial climber to 4 m tall, but often climbing only rarely and existing largely as gregarious rosettes c. 10 cm tall arising from creeping stems.
Leaves chartaceous, sessile, those of rosettes and short stems elliptic-oblong or oblanceolate-oblong, 6-11 by 1.5-2 cm, apex acute often inconspicuously peltate, base amplexicaul, subperfoliate, shortly decurrent down the stem by 0.3-0.6 cm;
Seeds fusiform, 14-16 by 0.7-0.8 mm.
Taxonomy
2. In Sulawesi N. tentaculata can be distinguished from the extremely closely related N. hamata by the lack of dramatically large, falcate peristome ribs. The Sulawesi specimens of N. tentaculata tend to have longer, more lanceolate leaves. In addition the lids tend to be less frequently tentaculate, and the inflorescence is longer (17.5 cm vs. 13 cm). A robust variant of N. tentaculata which lacks lid tentacles occurs on ultramafic areas at Mt Kinabalu. More work is needed to elucidate whether these plants warrant specific status.
3. Hooker’s protologue cites both a Lobb and Beccari specimen from Sarawak. The former, Lobb 83 was collected at 2700 ft in Sarawak, matching the altitude range (2500-3000 ft) given by Hooker in the protologue and for that reason was elected as lectotype.
1 Nepenthes tentaculata is the most ubiquitous montane Nepenthes in Borneo, occurring on most mountains there. This diminutive species is recognised by the perfoliate-adnate leaves, the tentacles on the upper surface of the lid, the rhombic pitcher mouth and the fasciculate pitcher spur. These characters are all shared by a group of apparently related species in which the multicellular ‘tentacles’ and a fasciculate spur are conspicuous in the lower pitchers but absent in the upper pitchers, viz.: N. adnata, N. glabrata, N. hamata, N. muluensis, and N. murudensis.
Citation
Phillipps & A.L. Lamb 1996: Pitcher Plants of Borneo: 138. f. 74
J.H. Adam & Wilcock – In: Sarawak Mus. J. p 161
Sh. Kurata 1976: Nepenthes of Mt Kinabalu, Sabah. p 69
Danser 1928 – In: Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg. p 379
Clarke 1997: Nepenthes of Borneo: 129. f. 89 & 90
Jebb & Cheek 1997 – In: Blumea. p 85