Nepenthaceae (1908 monograph)

Front cover (left) and two representative figures from Macfarlane's monograph. The one in the centre shows vegetative and floral parts of N. ampullaria, whereas the one on the right illustrates various glandular structures of Nepenthes

"Nepenthaceae" is a monograph by John Muirhead Macfarlane on the tropical pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes.^[1] It was published in 1908 in Adolf Engler's Das Pflanzenreich.^[1] It was the most exhaustive revision of the genus up to that point, covering all known species, and included detailed accounts of the structure, anatomy, and development of Nepenthes.^[1]

Macfarlane recognised 58 species, including 8 newly described ones: N. anamensis (later synonymised with N. smilesii),^[2][3] N. beccariana, N. copelandii, N. deaniana, N. hemsleyana (later synonymised with N. rafflesiana),^[2][4] N. neglecta (possibly the natural hybrid between N. gracilis and N. mirabilis),^[5] N. philippinensis, and N. tubulosa (later synonymised with N. mirabilis).^[2][4] Macfarlane also described a number of new varieties and listed all manmade hybrids known at the time.^[1]

Macfarlane synonymised a number of species, including N. korthalsiana with N. gracilis, N. macrostachya with N. mirabilis, N. sumatrana with N. treubiana (later reversed),^[6] and both N. teysmanniana and N. tomentella with N. albomarginata.^[1][7]

At the time of its publication, "Nepenthaceae" was praised for its many high quality illustrations (95 images in 19 figures) of both morphological and anatomical features.^[8]

Research conducted after World War I quickly rendered Macfarlane's monograph outdated.^[2] Much additional herbarium material was accumulated during this time, representing both new species and better specimens of known taxa, which highlighted issues with previous interpretations.^[5][6] The need for a new revision of the genus was satisfied with the publication of B. H. Danser's seminal 1928 monograph, "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies". However, Danser's treatment did not encompass the entire range of the genus. It would not be until Matthew Jebb and Martin Cheek's 1997 monograph, "A skeletal revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae)", that the entire genus was once again revised in a single work.^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Macfarlane, J.M. 1908. Nepenthaceae. In: A. Engler. Das Pflanzenreich IV, III, Heft 36: 1–91.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} McPherson, S.R. 2009. Pitcher Plants of the Old World. 2 volumes. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
3. ^ (Italian) Catalano, M. 2010. Nepenthes della Thailandia. Prague.
4. ^ ^{a b} Danser, B.H. 1928. The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg, Série III, 9(3–4): 249–438.
5. ^ ^{a b} Clarke, C.M. 1997. Nepenthes of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Clarke, C.M. 2001. Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
7. ^ Kurata, S. 2002. Revision trial in recent enumeration of Nepenthes species.PDF Proceedings of the 4th International Carnivorous Plant Conference: 111–116.
8. ^ (German) Wangerin, W. 1910. Macfarlane, J. M., Nepenthaceae. In: Lotsy, J.P. (ed.) Botanisches Centralblatt: Referirendes Organ der Association Internationale des Botanistes für das Gesamtgebiet der Botanik. Volume 31, issue 113. Gustav Fischer, Jena. pp. 501–502.