New Species - Nepenthes attenboroughii
Species:
Nepenthes attenboroughii
Locality:
Philippines
Date discovered:
June 2007
Discovery Details
During 2007, Alastair Robinson, Stewart McPherson and Volker Heinrich encountered a truly remarkable, giant new species of pitcher plant in the Philippines. This magnificent new plant produces some of the largest, most voluminous and most beautiful traps of all known pitcher plants. This beautiful new species of Nepenthes was named in honour of Sir David Attenborough.
Nepenthes attenboroughii occurs only one the summit of one mountain in Palawan, Philippines. The structure of its leaves, pitchers and flowers suggests strongly that it is a close relative of the great Nepenthes rajah from Borneo, and in the description, the authors of this species speculate on the connections of the Nepenthes flora of Palawan and Borneo.
The formal description of Nepenthes attenboroughii was published as;
Robinson A.S., A.S. Fleischmann, S.R. McPherson, V.B. Heinrich, E.P. Gironella & C.Q. Peña, 2009. "A spectacular new species of Nepenthes L. (Nepenthaceae) pitcher plant from central Palawan, Philippines", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 159(2): 195–202.
Detailed information and several photos of Nepenthes attenboroughii are presented in Redfern's new books Pitcher Plants of the Old World Volume One and Pitcher Plants of the Old World Volume Two. Please see Redfern book catalogue (left) for more details or to place an order.