Fig. 5. Nepenthes ephippiata (AMDJAH 497); a. part of a stem with
leaves, 1/2 x ; b. part of another stem with leaf bases, 1/2 x ; c. fruiting
raceme, 1/2 x ; d. female flower. 2 1/2 x ; e. fruit, 1 x.12. Nepenthes ephippiata DANS., spec. nova.
Icon: nostra 5.
Folia mediocria petiolata, lamina lanceolata, nervis longitudinalibus utrinque fere 0, basi semiamplexicauli in costas obtusas 2, internodium 1 1/2 sub folii basi confluentes, decurrente ; ascidia ignota ; inflorescentia racemus magnus, pedicellis inferioribus 20 mm longis, fere omnibus 2-floris ; indumentum in omnibus partibus copiosum, velutino-tomentosum, v. passim villoso-tomentosum.
Stems climbing (?), the part with adult leaves 16 to 20 mm thick, almost
cylindrical exclusive the wings, the internodes 3 to 4 cm long. Rosettes
and lower portion of the stem unknown. Leaves of the climbing
stems scattered, coriaceous, petiolate, lamina lanceolate, about 30 to 35
cm long, 8 to 10 cm broad, obtuse, with margins parallel over the greatest part
of the length, very obtuse at the base, abruptly contracted into the petiole ;
nervation pennate only, the midrib very prominent below, the pennate nerves
very oblique, undulate, slightly reticulate, partly incurved near the margin
and forming a beginning of a longitudinal nerve ; petiole 7 to 9 cm long, 8 to
10 mm thick, with wings 3 to 5 mm broad, rounded and grooved below, slightly
canaliculate or almost flat above, dilated near the stem and semiamplexicaul,
the wings decurrent into 2 obtuse ribs, meeting again about 1 1/2 internode
below the leaf base, forming saddles on which the leaves seem to be inserted,
and which almost wholly cover the stem ; tendrils about 1/2 as long as the leaf
blade, as far as known without curl, 4 mm thick, canaliculate above, rounded
and grooved beneath, with pitcher rudiment at the tip. Pitchers unknown.
Male inflorescence unknown. Female inflorescence a long raceme,
the peduncle about 20 cm long, about 10 mm thick in the lower part, 7 mm at the
top, the axis 30 to 40 cm long, attenuate, irregularly angular and grooved ;
lower pedicels about 20 mm long during the anthesis, upper ones little shorter,
all of them 2-flowered and without bract. Tepals oblong, 4 mm long. Ovary
sessile. Fruit 15 to 25 mm long, the valves lanceolate, attenuate towards both
ends, but especially towards the tip, 2
.
Fig. 5. Nepenthes ephippiata (AMDJAH 497); a. part of a stem with
leaves, 1/2 x ; b. part of another stem with leaf bases, 1/2 x ; c. fruiting
raceme, 1/2 x ; d. female flower. 2 1/2 x ; e. fruit, 1 x.
1/2 to 3 mm broad, Seeds filiform, 10 to 15 mm long, the nucleus tuberculate-wrinkled. Indumentum on the stems, the petioles and the tendrils below woolly- or velvety-tomentose, almost none on the further leaf, coarsely tomentose on the inflorescence, more densetowards the flowers, on the ovary still more dense, rather dense on the fruit. Colour of flower and fruit yellowish when living, in herbarium specimens the leaves fallow-yellow-brown, the leaves beneath and the stems reddish-brown. (Description after the specimens mentioned below.)
BORNEO. Res. Southern & Eastern Division: Bt. Batoe Lesoeng, 28 I 1899, AMDJAH (Exp. NIEUWENHUIS) 497, H. B. (f).
Though the pitchers of this plant are unknown, and from the generative organs only the fruit-bearing raceme is extant, the very aberrant characters of the leaves and the coarseness of all parts justify the distinction of a new species.