The alatas

[arvin555]

Okay I'll start, I am posting photos of the different Alatas in my collection, hopefully everyone who has an N. alata species can post a photo of the pitchers and the plants so that we can come to a conclusion if the alatas that we know are of the same species or should be separated.

Here are some to start with:





The above two photos are of what I understand is the N. alata "quezon" though I understand that the Mindoro ones look similar, I do not know for sure if this specimen is from quezon, as all of my alatas were from local nurseries.





The next above two photos are of the N. alata "sagada" as what I call them, these actually have pitchers that answer more to the original alata description. I forget though if the original description mentions hair on the leaves.

The biggest difference between the two is that the Quezon var. has waxy leaves and no hair at all, while the Sagada one has hairy leaves. Of course the coloration of the pitcher, and the wings of the sagada var. versus the lack of wings on the Quezon one is also very much obvious.

My apologies for not using technical terms, I haven't really memorized the terms, and I should really have Mcpherson book with me as I type this, for reference of proper terms, but it's midnight and I just want to get this topic jump started

TTFN
Arvin

[ayi]

Arvin's second photo perfectly shows why the study of the Nepenthes alata complex is, well, quite complicated. It is not that easy to pin down characters that can be considered diagnostic to one or the other. Most of the Quezon plants- glabrescent with wings reduced to ridges (though may be sparingly fringed on some specimens)- have canaliculate (channeled) petioles, but in this plant the petioles are quite flattened and winged. I still believe the characters that separate the smooth ones from the true, hairy types are its glabrescent nature (vs. finely hairy), the absence of fringed wings on the pitchers, the smaller lid glands and simple spur (vs. simple to distinctly branched). They are I believe also separated by altitudinal preferences: the smooth ones favor lower altitudes, while the hairy ones are found at higher elevations.

[kurt]

Hello here's my alata from my place...Romblon.

[arvin555]

From Volker's Post:















Some of them might be copelandii but so who can identify which is which?

[arvin555]

From Wally:

[rsivertsen]

This is a great thread indeed! Thanks for the images and insights! One thing that I think we can all agree on is that solitary plants that are clearly different from the majority of a population can be regarded as either some hybrid or just a sport, which is NOT uncommon in this genus as anyone who has raised a bunch of these plants from seed will tell you! There will be a bell curve of traits expressed in many populations. The focus of concern should be on the majority of the primary population and if it is a self sustaining population. I think a lot of plants were collected and named which would otherwise fall into this category of being outside of the norm of the population, and perhaps should have not have been described as something new.

The N. petiolata that Volker posted is very different from the ones that I used to grow, which had very wide leaves, oval in shape, long canaliculate petioles, thick tendrils and overall had intermediate traits between N. alata (or possibly N. copelandii) and N. truncata, and many others, including most Japanese authorities agreed. But this plant is very different than the ones I've grown and seen in other collections. Again, if it exists as a self sustaining population with similar plants, it should be regarded as a separate species in its own rite regardless of its hybrid origins.

Curious that some N. merrilliana hybrids also are scattered around too! Most of these hybrids seem to remain as scattered solitary and isolated plants just as N. hookeriana and N. trichocarpa. The N. alata complex is more complicated than I thought!

So many intermediate plants make it very difficult to define and delineate one from another. Even the glabrous traits doesn't always hold up as a consistent taxonomic feature as I have N. truncata from Paisan that have hairy petioles, while others have completely glabrous petioles, yet both are clearly pure N. truncata.

This species has quite a bit of variation too, some with long thin pitchers, and some with pitchers that resemble N. veitchii, yet all of them have that distinct wide and truncate leaf blade, nearly as wide (or wider) as it is long, and never producing prehensile tendrils or upper (infundibulate) pitchers, and its leaves seem to be stacked directly on top of one another without producing any visible internodes between them on the stems, and those long canaliculate petioles which are as long as the leaf blades. - Rich

[leeb]

Okay, so far we seem to have a plant which is hairy, has fringed wings on its pitchers and has pitchers with speckles of colour on the outside of the pitcher.
This occurs on Luzon and Negros so far.
Then we have a glabrous plant whose pitchers are wingless with occasional cilia near the top of the external ridges, and mainly green on the exterior.
This occurs at low altitudes on Mindanao, on Dinagat, on Romblon, and Mt. Apo on Mindanao.
A colour variety with pitchers green below and purple above occurs in Quezon, Luzon and also on Mindoro and Cebu.

Another glabrous plant occurs at higher altitude on Mindanao, this has pitchers speckled with colour on the exterior and fringed wings.

And finally on Western Luzon there are glabrous plants with green pitchers with fringed wings growing near hairy plants with fringed wings and orange pitchers.

Perhaps the wings on the glabrous plant from Luzon are the result of introgression with the hairy plant.

Other than that we seem to have three taxa; a hairy plant with fringed wings and colourful pitchers from Luzon and Negros; a glabrous plant with colourful pitchers and fringed wings from highland Mindanao; and a glabrous plant lacking wings and mainly green pitchers from Mindanao, Dinagat, Cebu, Romblon, Mindoro and lower altitudes in Luzon.

There are other features of the lid and petiole which are not obvious in the pictures so far but should be linked to these taxa.

Also are there any pictures or descriptions of "N. alata" from other locations available, such as Sibuyan, Panay, Samar or Leyte?

LeeB.

[rsivertsen]

Good point LeeB! We also need to look at the petioles, their connection to the stem, the leaf margins (some are ciliate and others are glabrous), lids that are either flat or vaulted, and the floral parts and structures. It would be nice to see if there are any consistent patterns in the glands, both under the lid and the digestive zone, and perhaps an ESM scan of the pollen grains. - Rich

[Sockhom]

Well, all these "alatish" plants do remind me of all the "thorelii complex" I am dealing with.
I hope, in the near future, enthusiasts and botanists will help clearing everything. The Philippines is sure the next hotspot!

Cheers,

François.

[leeb]

I just had a look for pictures of Philippine N. alata online.
There are pictures of a N. alata Mindoro lowland that is green, and has ridges on the pitches; and a N. alata from Mt Halcon, Mindoro that has ridges on the pitchers and is green with a faint reddish tinge on the pitcher above the hips.
There is a picture of a N. alata from Panay that again has ridges on the pitchers rather than wings but instead of being green the pitchers are a darker browny green.

There is a picture of a plant from Sibuyan that has pitchers that appear to lack wings and have a green base to the pitchers and are reddish above the hips like the N. alata Quezon.

Is this colour form only found in the northern Philippines?

The are pictures of N. alata pitchers from Camiguan Island that are green with ridges like the N. alata from Dinigat and lowland Mindanao.

And finally there is a poor picture of what is claimed to be N. alata from Leyte; the pitcher appears distorted but is heavily freckled with red Like the hairy N. alata from Luzon.

I cannot find any pictures of Nepenthes from Samar unfortunately.

LeeB.

[ayi]

Hi All,

Attached is a photo from Leyte showing the glabrous "N alata" in situ. From what I can judge, this form is virtually identical to that found in Quezon and the Bicol Region in southern Luzon.

[img src="i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae51/ayi_06/Thrixspermumamplexicaulehabitat05-C.jpg"*][/img*]

Hi Rich and leeb,

Unfortunately I have so far not observed consistent traits with regards to colouration, petiole and characters that will help us here (I'm referring solely to the glabrous "alatas"). But, I believe they are pretty morphologically "stable" in characters involving lid glands, spur and peristome (rounded to flat, but never sinuate outside nor denticulate inside). The Mindoro plants are virtually identical to those found in southern Luzon, as are those from Cebu (though some does have extreme characters such as having large saddle-like lids and distinctly wide peristomes). I have seen photos from very similar plants which were found in Palawan (shown to me by a botanist friend)- these are pure green and could easily be mistaken for N. philippinensis were it not for the fact that they have that diagnostic basal lid appendage. But regarding the plants from Dinagat and the rest of Mindanao we are going to need Volker's output here.

Attached below is a plant found recently in Cotabato on Mindanao. Note how the fringed wings are restricted only to the upper third of the pitcher- this is what one sees with N. mira, which however is of course unrelated. I have already examined the specimen (already pressed) and I found distinct characters (involving petiole attachment, the presence of peristome teeth, lid gland morphology, among other things) that clearly separate it from any known taxon, especially within the N. alata complex. The pitchers are minutely hairy.

[img src="i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae51/ayi_06/NepenthesCotabatoUF_2092.jpg"*][/img*]

This is the lid underside:

[img src="i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae51/ayi_06/NepenthesCotabatoUF_2091-1.jpg"*][/img*]

Note how the lid glands on the median portion of the lid undersurface are enlarged; red coloured glands are plainly visible. In true N. alata the glands are monomorphic. The same can be said for those found in the glabrous "alatas", though in them the glands are much smaller when compared to those seen in the true alatas.

Want another oddball from the N. alata complex? How about this one? These pitchers differ more significantly from the rest- look at how the mouth rises at the rear to form a column, also the sinuate peristome. The large lid glands are also very distinctive.

[img src="i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae51/ayi_06/NepenthescfrboschianaSMindanao.jpg"*][/img*]

[leeb]

Hi Ayi,

the plant from Cotabato looks like the Mindanao "N. alata" from higher altitude that Volker showed.
It agrees with them in the heavily spotted pitchers and the fringed wings.
Is it also from higher altitude?

The other plant you show has a distinct peristome, and has stouter pitchers than a lot of the other N. alata; where is it from?

LeeB.

[ayi]

Hi LeeB,

The Cotabato Nepenthes was found by a botanist friend of mine. I will have to ask him about the altitude it was from. I'd love to examine the plants that Volker photographed; perhaps they will prove to be identical to the Cotabato plant, then again maybe not.

The other plant came from Davao Oriental. The long tendrils are also quite unusual especially when compared to the other alatas (I mean alatas in the broad sense).

There is another plant, also from where this came from, and I'm showing it here too.

[img src="i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae51/ayi_06/CopyofNepenthesHamiguitanApril2007L.jpg"*][/img*]

Note the large median lid glands:

[img src="i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae51/ayi_06/CopyofNepenthesHamiguitanApril20-1.jpg"*][/img*]

And now here is what I believe to be N. blancoi, which of course has been sunk under N. alata:

[img src="i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae51/ayi_06/NepenthesMinganUF2788.jpg"*][/img*]

Noticed the very narrow leaves? MacFarlane cited the leaves of N. blancoi as being the narrowest among Philippine Nepenthes. The shape of the pitcher of the plant shown also agrees very well with the description of that of N. blancoi.

[Dave Evans]

Jan 23, 2010 20:40:44 GMT 7 ayi said:

And now here is what I believe to be N. blancoi, which of course has been sunk under N. alata:

Noticed the very narrow leaves? MacFarlane cited the leaves of N. blancoi as being the narrowest among Philippine Nepenthes. The shape of the pitcher of the plant shown also agrees very well with the description of that of N. blancoi.

Dear Ayi,

Blanco, I think, named it in 1852. I doubt it can be said to have the narrowest leaves now, but it sure is distinct. If it matches the type and the description, it is N. blancoi regardless of some other authors' decisions which were probably based on incomplete information...

[leeb]

Actually N. blancoi was named by Blume.
According to Danser he referred to plants that Blanco had stated in a note to occur from two different locations, one in Luzon and the other from Cebu.
I haven't seen Blumes publication; does he specify which of the plants was intended to be N. blancoi?

Or did Macfarlane as the first reviser specify one of the plants as the type.

I notice the carnivorous plant database lists the location as Cebu.

Leeb