I wasn't suggesting that. As experience shows, going through official
channels doesn't work well. But, as you (Perry) seem so anxious and
willing to do a lot of extra work to get Nep seeds, I thought you might
think of something. Hacking the internet might be rewarding. There
are computers on the internet in Singapore and Malaysia (only on the
mainland of Malaysia). I tried a few times sending e-mail at random to
people having accounts on these systems (addresses found through the
"finger" command). The responses were always friendly but I never found
anyone interested in local plantlife. Besides Mt. Kinabalu, there are
other places - such as New Guinea, the Phillipines, and Sumatra - where
some Nepenthes species grow which have never yet been introduced into
cultivation. Mainland Malaysia should have N. ampullaria, N. mirabilis,
N. rafflesiana, N. albo-marginata, N. gracilis, and I think N. gracillima
too (a very nice species, some clones have near-black colored pitchers).
There was a message on "soc.culture.singapore" last week from someone in
Singapore who will visit Mt. Kinabalu next summer. I don't know how common
it is for natives living in SE Asia to take trips to the other islands
like Sumatra or Borneo for vacations.
Maybe the Taylors can verify this, but I've heard the beaches of New
Guinea are very big tourist areas, primarily for the Australians.
New Guinea has the very rare N. klossii, not yet in cultivation. If
we're very lucky (on the order of winning the lottery) we might find
someone to send us some seeds.
> By the way, is the
> St. Louis Botanical Garden the same as the Missouri Botanical Garden?
The proper name is the "Missouri Botanical Garden". I called it the
St. Louis Botanical Garden by mistake.
--- Don Burden New Albany, Indiana drosera@gnu.ai.mit.edu