Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 10:28:22 +0000 From: schlauer@chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3046$foo@default> Subject: Re: N. maxima x northiana ?
Dear Cliff,
> (...) I also have two similar plants both of uncertain origin, though
> one could probably be tracked down with a phone call or two (one is
> from Longwood, the other has only been traced as far back as
> Australia, we don't know where they got it from). These plants were
> thought to have originated in Sarawak, they seem to be N. maxima, with
> petiolate leaves, gladular boss and crest, very wide peristome which
> is a chocolate color, and vividly striped pitchers purplish brown on
> green. I do not believe them to be exagerated forms of N. fusca but
> that is possible. The body is much wider, the lid broader, the
> peristome more expanded and flattened than N. fusca. They do share
> its coloration. Again, I have no proof of Sarawak as their point of
> origin.
The plants I have seen from Borneo that possibly match your
description are referable to _N. veitchii_.
> The only other 'evidence' I have of N. maxima from Sarawak is of a
> plant a friend had received from Munich Botanic Garden as N.
> northiana. What amazed us was its ease of care and vigor. Upon close
> inspection we noticed the 'saddle' opposite the leaves on N. northiana
> was incomplete on the specimen and that the plant bore a great
> resemblence to N. x mixta (north. x max.) in all respects except the
> pitchers have a bit more brown in coloration. Based on the supposed
> origin of the above plants we made an assumption that this was a
> natural hybrid of the two.
Why not an artificial one?
> It could also have been a labeling error at Munich but that is unlikely.
Why should that be unlikely?
> If N. maxima does not occur on Borneo (and I know the Lambs had difficulty
> finding it), are you familiar with forms of N. fusca that could pass for N.
> maxima?
The confused material I know is _N. veitchii_.
> I know N. fusca runs from at least Kinabalu down through the
> Crocker range, I have not heard of it near Bau
All these are more probably referable to _N. stenophylla_ Mast. (no,
not the plant Danser, Kurata, Turnbull et al. confused with this
name, which is _N. fallax_). I have never seen _N. stenophylla_
Mast. (non Danser) with an apical spur below the lid. I am not sure
if the true _N. fusca_ (from Kalimantan) is conspecific with _N.
stenophylla_ Mast (non Danser). If it is, _N. stenophylla_ Mast. is
the correct name for all _N. fusca_ material.
>, but there is still the problem of the above mentioned hybrid.
I suppose it is _N. * mixta_ with a wrong label. _N. northiana_
apparently did not survive at Veitchs' and (subsequently) at other
places but their weedy hybrid obviously did.
Kind regards
Jan
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