Fig. 21. Nepenthes spectabilis (LÖRZING 7308) ; a. upper leaf and
pitcher, 1/2 x ; b. upper part of the same pitcher from the other side ; c.
fruiting raceme, 1/2 x ; d. male inflorescence, 1/2 x ; e. male flower, 1 1/2 x
; f. fruit, 1 1/2 x.42. Nepenthes spectabilis DANS., spec. nova.
Icon: nostra 21.
Folia mediocria sessilia v. petiolo late alato, lamina oblonga-spathulata, nervis longitudinalibus utrinque 5-6, basi rotundata v. leviter cordata caulis 2/3-3/4 amplectente, vagina 0, ascidia rosularum et inferiore ignota ; ascidia superiore magna, e parte inferiore anguste infundibuliformi tubulosa ; costis 2 prominentibus ad os appendice folicea ramosa ornatis ; peristomio operculum versus accuminato, vix in collum elongato applanato, 3-12 mm lato, costis 3/4-1 mm distantibus, dentibus 3-5 x longioribus quam latis ; operculo rotundato-cordato, facie inferiore plano v. obtusa-cordato inflorescentia racemus pedicellis 10-3 mm longis plerumque 2-floris ; indumentum parcum villoso-tomentosum, ferrugineum.
Stems climbing up to 6 m high, the part with adult leaves 3 1/2 to 7 mm thick, the internodes 1 to 7 cm long ; rosettes and short shoots unknown. Leaves of the climbing stems very different, the best developed ones with an oblong lamina contracted into a narrower basal part, but not petioled, the lamina 8 to 16 cm long, 3 to 6 cm broad, rounded to acute at the apex, cuneate at the base, the narrow part 1 1/2 to 2 cm broad, clasping the stem for 2/3 or 3/4 with a rounded or slightly cordate base ; rarely the leaves smaller or gradually attenuate towards the base and quite sessile ; pennate nerves running obliquely towards the margin and irregularly reticulate, longitudinal nerves 5 to 6 on each side in well developed leaves, originating from the leaf base, running parallel in the outer half of the lamina, often indistinct in less developed leaves ; tendrils 1 to 1 1/2 times as long as the leaf, the pitcher-bearing ones always with curl. Pitchers abruptly originating from the hanging end of the tendril, incurved with a curve 20 to 50 mm wide, narrowly infundibuliform in the lower half, almost tubulose in the upper half, 15 to 26 cm high, 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cm wide, with 2 prominent ribs over the whole length, bearing a fringe rudiment nearly 6 cm long below the peristome, mouth very oblique, incurved towards the lid ; peristome strongly flattened, 2 to 3 mm broad in front, 6 to 12 mm broad at some distance from the lid, the ribs 3/4 to 1 mm apart, the teeth on the inner margin 3 to 5 times as long as broad ; inner surface of the pitcher glandular up to 1/2 or 3/5 of its height, with overarched glands, about 150 to 200 on 1 cm2 ; lid nearly orbiculate, 3 1/2 to 6 cm long, 3 1/4 to 5 cm broad, deeply cordate with small round deepened glands the whole surface, which are larger and more densely set towards the basal part of the flat or sometimes slightly keeled midrib ; spur not branched attenuate, inserted 5 to 10 mm from the lid, ascending from the back rib of the pitcher, about 20 mm long. Male inflorescence a raceme, not robust, at length seemingly lateral, the peduncle 10 to 12 cm long, 2 to 4 mm thick in the lower part, 1 1/2 to 2 mm in the upper part, the axis 10 to 20 cm long ; pedicels mostly 2-flowered, with a narrow bract near the base, the lower ones about 10 mm long, the upper ones shorter. Tepals 4 to 5 mm long, elliptic to oblong, obtuse. Staminal column 3 to 7 mm long, the anthers in 1 or 1 1/2 whorl. Female inflorescence in the main, like the male one, the peduncle often thicker, the axis 7 to 12 cm long. Fruit very slender, 40 to 45 mm long, the valves 4 to 5 mm broad, strongly attenuate towards both ends. Seeds filiform, 12 to 18 mm long, the nucleus strongly transversely wrinkled. Indumentum on the stems short and spreading, red-brown, dense, later sparse or none ; the leaves with a very dense and short pubescence on the midrib below, glabrous for the rest ; tendrils and pitchers very densely covered with short spreading hairs when young, later sparsely hairy, the pitchers with crisped, more appressed hairs ; inflorescence with a persistent red-brown velvety tomentum, the fruit at least rather densely appressedly hairy. Colour of the pitchers light-green or somewhat bluish outside, with numerous longitudinal dark velvet-brown stripes and spots, the peristome green and dark-brown spotted, the lid like the pitchers, but with smaller spots ; inner surface of the pitcher pale bluish-green ; inflorescence brown,
.
Fig. 21. Nepenthes spectabilis (LÖRZING 7308) ; a. upper leaf and
pitcher, 1/2 x ; b. upper part of the same pitcher from the other side ; c.
fruiting raceme, 1/2 x ; d. male inflorescence, 1/2 x ; e. male flower, 1 1/2 x
; f. fruit, 1 1/2 x.
alabaster green, open flowers light-green. Colour of herbarium specimens: the stems andleaves fallow-dun, the leaves beneath reddish, the pitchers dark-red spotted, the inflorescences and the fruits brown with a ferrugineous indumentum. (Description after all the specimens mentioned.)
SUMATRA. Gov. Eastcoast: G. Sibajak, 1800-1900 m, 5 VI 1920, LÖRZING 7308, H. B. (m, f), H. L. B. (f), type ; 1900 m, 23 I 1921, LÖRZING 8297, H. B. (m, f) ; G. Pinto, summit, 2100-2200 m, 22 I 1921, LÖRZING 8260, H. B. (m), doubtful double H. L. B. (m) ; Sibolangit, Bt. Semaik, 5 VIII 1921, NUR 7342, H. S. (0).
This new species has only been found on the G. Sibajak and the G. Pinto, two tops of the same mountain ; the Bt. Semaik too certainly belongs to the same group. N. spectabilis grows above 1800 m elevation ; the habitat is alpine forest and scrub. It seems to be most closely related to N. sanguinea by the characters of the vegetative parts, but the inflorescences are quite different.
LÖRZING says of his number 8297 that it was a monoeceous plant ; since, however, in H. B. there is no stem fragment both with male and female flowers, I call this record into question.