Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 13:03:20 +0500 From: Borneo Exotics <borneo@lanka.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2666$foo@default> Subject: re: new species or hybrid
"Sup peepz,
How does one know when they find, let's say a new Nepenthes, that it's
a new specie or just a hybrid?
-Peace out-"
To cut a long story short, generally hybrids look like one or other of
their parent species, or somewhere in between. The first thing to do when
finding an unidentified plant that may be a new species is to take note of
which other species are in the area and consider their characteristics vs.
the unidentified plant. Also, hybrids occur sporadically and not in colonies.
Then, herbarium specimens are collected and sent (after much trouble with
CITES permits!) to a herbarium where they are minutely examined by an
experienced botanist (e.g. Jebb, Cheek, Clarke, Schlauer etc.) where note
is taken of all the plant's characteristics such as male flower structure,
and even down to glandular structure within the pitchers. If this
examination supports the hypothesis that it is a new species, then it can
be published as such and named.
Two probable new species of Nepenthes have been discovered in the past
fortnight. One of them apparently resembles N. rajah although it is not in
Malaysia! Members of the team that discovered these plants are rather
distinguished in their field, and include Joachim Nertz, Andreas Wistuba,
Olivier Marthaler and others. Personally, I feel that if they declare a
plant to be a new species, I wouldn't argue with them!
Best regards,
Rob Cantley
<http://www.borneoexotics.com>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:31:35 PST