Re: nepenthes of Borneo

Andreas Wistuba (A.Wistuba@DKFZ-Heidelberg.DE)
Wed, 29 May 1996 16:25:41 GMT+1

> Phillipps and Lamb describe in their book "Pitcherplants of
> Borneo":"... by the lack of 'eyes' so typical of reinwardtiana..."
> (Phillipps and Lamb,pg.117 1996). I don't think that this is the only
> characteristic for N.reinwardtiana. I
> found 1981 several plants at Tambunan Road/Sabah, where I saw
> pitchers with
> 'eyes' and without them at one plant! In Botanical Garden Munich I
> saw a N.reinwardtiana without any 'eye'.
>
> As de Witte described that there is also N.muluensis on G.Murud, it is
> obvious that this "new" specie is a hybrid between N.muluensis (or
> perhaps tentaculata) and N.reinwardtiana. And who says, that the
> characteristic 'eye' is hereditary?

Well, 'N.murudensis' is without any doubt of hybridogenic origin.
However according to field observations (unfortunately I was not
there myself so far.....:-( the populations of these plants seem to
be very abundant and _constant_. The last fact is a sign of a genetic
stabilization which e.g. occurs by constant selection for certain
characteristics but can also have genetic reasons (doubeling of a
triploid genome) in other genera. If these populations have reached a
high degree of genetic stability and breed true they can very well be
called a species. Many plant species are of hybridogenic origin. It
is just another trick evolution uses to shorten 'development time'.

> The photo of N. rafflesiana var. alata on page 127 is looking quite
> similar to N.x Mizuho Kondo. The Japanees described it as a hybrid,
> but the plants which you can find in german Botanical Gardens are
> looking all like this N.rafflesiana.

I doubt that N. Mizuho Kondo is a hybrid. I do not see any
characteristics that speak against a true N. rafflesiana. Winged
forms also occur in other species (N. mirabilis) as spontaneous
mutations.

Bye,

Andreas
Andreas Wistuba; Mudauer Ring 227; 68259 Mannheim; Germany
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