Nepenthes distillatoria

Nepenthes distillatoria
An upper pitcher of Nepenthes distillatoria from Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Sri Lanka
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Nepenthaceae
Genus:	Nepenthes
Species:	N. distillatoria
Binomial name
Nepenthes distillatoria L. (1753)
Distribution of N. distillatoria.
Synonyms
Synonyms Bandura zeylanica Burm. ex Brongn. (1824) nom.illeg. Nepenthes chapmanii Balakr. (1970) Nepenthes destillatoria Danser (1928) sphalm.typogr. Nepenthes hirsuta var. glabrescens W.G.Sm. (1882) Nepenthes hirsuta var. glabrescens rubra auct. non Hort. ex Rafarin: Nichols. (1892) Nepenthes indica Poir. (1797) nom.illeg. Nepenthes rubra auct. non Hort. ex Rafarin: Nichols. (1886) Nepenthes smithii Beck (1895)[1] nom.illeg. Nepenthes speciosa Hort. ex Beck (1895)[1] nom.illeg. Nepenthes trichocarpa auct. non Miq.: Hort. ex Hort.Bednar in sched. (1993) Nepenthes zeylanica (Burm. ex Brongn.) Raf. (1836) Nepenthes zeylanica var. rubra auct. non Hort. ex Rafarin: Nichols. (1877) Heterochresonyms Nepenthes distillatoria auct. non L.: Brion (1855) [=N. madagascariensis] Nepenthes distillatoria auct. non L.: Jack (1835) [=N. gracilis] Nepenthes distillatoria auct. non L.: Jeanneney (1894) [=N. vieillardii] Nepenthes distillatoria auct. non L.: R.Grah. (1827) [=N. khasiana] Nepenthes distillatoria auct. non L.: Steud. (1841) [=N. mirabilis] Nepenthes distillatoria auct. non L.: Wall. (1828) [=N. distillatoria/N. gracilis] Pre-Linnaean names "Bandura cingalensium" Ray (1686) "Bandura zeylanica" Burm. (1737) "Bandura zingalensium" Breyne (1680) "Miranda herba" Bartholinus (1677) "Nepenthes ceylanicum flore minore" Breyne (1689) "Planta mirabilis destillatoria" H.N.Grimm (1682) "Utricaria vegetabilis zeylanensium" Plukenet (1696)

Nepenthes distillatoria (pronounced /nɨˈpɛnθiːz dɨˌstɪləˈtɔəri.ə/, from New Latin from Latin: destillo = to distill, -oria = adjectival ending; something from which a liquid is distilled, i.e., pitcher) is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sri Lanka. It was the second Nepenthes species to be described in print and the first to be formally named under the Linnaean system of taxonomy. It is the type species of the genus.

Botanical history

Nepenthes distillatoria was the second Nepenthes species to be described in print, after N. madagascariensis. In 1677, Bartholinus made brief mention of it under the name Miranda herba, Latin for "marvellous herb".^[2] Three years later, Dutch merchant Jacob Breyne referred to this species as Bandura zingalensium, after a local name for the plant.^[3] Bandura subsequently became the most commonly used name for the tropical pitcher plants, until Linnaeus coined Nepenthes in 1737.^[4]

Nepenthes distillatoria was again described in 1683, this time by Swedish physician H. N. Grimm.^[5] Grimm called it Planta mirabilis destillatoria or the "miraculous distilling plant", and was the first to clearly illustrate a tropical pitcher plant.^[4] Three years later, in 1686, English naturalist John Ray quoted Grimm as saying:^[6]

The root draws up moisture from the earth which with the help of the sun's rays rises up into the plant itself and then flows down through the stems and nerves of the leaves into the natural utensil to be stored there until used for human needs. [translated from Latin in Pitcher-Plants of Borneo]^[4]

Linnaeus used Grimm's original specific epithet when naming N. distillatoria in 1753.

Nepenthes distillatoria from Joseph Paxton's Magazine of Botany of 1838^[7]

Nepenthes distillatoria was again illustrated in Johannes Burmann's Thesaurus Zeylanicus of 1737. The drawing depicts the end of a flowering stem with pitchers. Burmann refers to the plant as Bandura zeylanica.^[8]

Ecology

Nepenthes distillatoria is endemic to Sri Lanka and is the only Nepenthes species recorded from the island. It grows in waterlogged open scrub, along road embankments and other cleared areas, and in forest. N. distillatoria occurs from sea-level to 700 m altitude.^[9]

Due to its isolation, N. distillatoria has no known natural hybrids.

Infraspecific taxa

Two infraspecific taxa of N. distillatoria have been described, although they are no longer considered valid.

• Nepenthes distillatoria var. rubra (auct. non Hort. ex Rafarin: Nichols.) Hort.Veitch ex Macf. (1908)
• Nepenthes distillatoria vera D.Moore (1872) nom.illeg.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} (German) Beck, G. 1895. Die Gattung Nepenthes. Wiener Illustrirte Garten-Zeitung 20(3–6): 96–107, 141–150, 182–192, 217–229.
2. ^ Bartholinus 1677. Miranda herba. Acta Medica et Philosophica Hafniensa 3: 38.
3. ^ Breyne, J. 1680. Bandura zingalensium etc. Prodromus Fasciculi Rariorum Plantarum 1: 18.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Phillipps, A. & A. Lamb 1996. Pitcher-Plants of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
5. ^ Grimm, H.N. 1683. Planta mirabilis destillatoria. In: Miscellanea curiosa sive Ephemeridum. Med. Phys. Germ. Acad. Nat. Cur. Decuriae 2, ann. prim. p. 363, f. 27.
6. ^ Ray, J. 1686. Bandura cingalensium etc. Historia Plantarum 1: 721–722.
7. ^ Paxton, J. 1838. Nepenthes distillatoria. Paxton's Magazine of Botany 4: 1–4.
8. ^ Burmann, J. 1737. Thesaurus Zeylanicus. Amsterdam.
9. ^ Clarke, C.M., R. Cantley, J. Nerz, H. Rischer & A. Witsuba (2000). Nepenthes distillatoria. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 06 May 2006. Listed as Vulnerable (VU B1+2d v2.3).

Further reading

• Amaratunga, K.L.D. 1980. Nepenthaceae. In: M.D. Dassanayake & F.R. Fosberg (eds.) A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon, Volume 6. Taylor & Francis, London. pp. 241–244.
• Athauda, S.B.P., H. Inoue, A. Iwamatsu & K. Takahashi 1998. Acid Proteinase from Nepenthes distillatoria (Badura). In: M.N.G. James (ed.) Aspartic Proteinases: Retroviral and Cellular Enzymes. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, Volume 436. Plenum Press, New York. pp. 453–458.
• Athauda, S.B.P., K. Matsumoto, S. Rajapakshe, M. Kuribayashi, M. Kojima, N. Kubomura-Yoshida, A. Iwamatsu, C. Shibata, H. Inoue & K. Takahashi 2004. Enzymatic and structural characterization of nepenthesin, a unique member of a novel subfamily of aspartic proteinases.PDF (1.32 MiB) (manuscript BJ20031575) Biochemical Journal 381(1): 295–306.
• DeFilipps, R.A. 1998. A digression upon James Taplin, Nepenthes hybridizer (Nepenthaceae). Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 27(4): 104–109.
• De Luna, M. 1964. Nepenthes distillatoria. British Homeopathic Journal 53(4): 266–267. doi:10.1016/S0007-0785(64)80047-8
• (French) Gode, L. 1987. Découverte de Nepenthes distillatoria. Dionée 10.
• (German) Guenther, K. 1913. Die lebenden Bewohner der Kannen der insektenfressenden Pflanze Nepenthes destillatoria auf Ceylon. Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Insektenbiologie 9: 122–130, 156–160, 198–207.
• (Indonesian) Mansur, M. 2001. Koleksi Nepenthes di Herbarium Bogoriense: prospeknya sebagai tanaman hias.PDF In: Prosiding Seminar Hari Cinta Puspa dan Satwa Nasional. Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, Bogor. pp. 244–253.
• (German) Oudemans, A.C. 1915. Anoetus guentheri nov. sp.. In: Guenther, K. Die lebenden Bewohner der Kannen der insektenfressenden Pflanze Nepenthes distillatoria auf Ceylon. Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Insektenbiologie 11: 242–243.
• Takahashi, K., S.B.P. Athauda, K. Matsumoto, S. Rajapakshe, M. Kuribayashi, M. Kojima, N. Kubomura-Yoshida, A. Iwamatsu, C. Shibata & H. Inoue 2005. Nepenthesin, a unique member of a novel subfamily of aspartic proteinases: enzymatic and structural characteristics. Current Protein and Peptide Science 6(6): 513–525. doi:10.2174/138920305774933259

v · d · e

Nepenthes (list)

Species

N. adnata N. alata N. alba N. albomarginata N. ampullaria N. andamana N. angasanensis N. argentii N. aristolochioides N. attenboroughii N. beccariana N. bellii N. benstonei N. bicalcarata N. bokorensis N. bongso N. boschiana N. burbidgeae N. burkei N. campanulata N. ceciliae N. chang

N. chaniana N. clipeata N. copelandii N. danseri N. deaniana N. densiflora N. diatas N. distillatoria N. dubia N. edwardsiana N. ephippiata N. eustachya N. eymae N. faizaliana N. flava N. fusca N. gantungensis N. glabrata N. glandulifera N. gracilis N. gracillima N. gymnamphora

N. hamata N. hamiguitanensis N. hirsuta N. hispida N. holdenii N. hurrelliana N. inermis N. insignis N. izumiae N. jacquelineae N. jamban N. junghuhnii N. kampotiana N. kerrii N. khasiana N. klossii N. kongkandana N. lamii N. lavicola N. leonardoi N. lingulata N. longifolia

N. lowii N. macfarlanei N. macrophylla N. macrovulgaris N. madagascariensis N. mantalingajanensis N. mapuluensis N. masoalensis N. maxima N. merrilliana N. micramphora N. mikei N. mindanaoensis N. mira N. mirabilis N. mollis N. muluensis N. murudensis N. naga N. neoguineensis N. northiana N. ovata

N. palawanensis N. paniculata N. papuana N. peltata N. pervillei N. petiolata N. philippinensis N. pilosa N. pitopangii N. platychila N. pulchra N. rafflesiana N. rajah N. ramispina N. reinwardtiana N. rhombicaulis N. rigidifolia N. rowanae N. sanguinea N. saranganiensis N. sibuyanensis N. singalana

N. smilesii N. spathulata N. spectabilis N. stenophylla N. sumatrana N. suratensis N. surigaoensis N. talangensis N. tenax N. tentaculata N. tenuis N. thai N. thorelii N. tobaica N. tomoriana N. treubiana N. truncata N. veitchii N. ventricosa N. vieillardii N. villosa N. vogelii

Incompletely diagnosed taxa: N. sp. Misool • N. sp. Papua • N. sp. Sulawesi
Possible extinct species: N. echinatus • N. echinosporus • N. major

Natural hybrids

N. × alisaputrana N. × bauensis N. × cantleyi N. × cincta

N. × ferrugineomarginata N. × harryana N. × hookeriana N. × kinabaluensis

N. × kuchingensis N. × merrilliata N. × mirabilata N. × pangulubauensis

N. × pyriformis N. × sarawakiensis N. × sharifah-hapsahii N. × trichocarpa

N. × truncalata N. × trusmadiensis N. × tsangoya N. × ventrata

Related topics

Nepenthes taxonomy • Nepenthes infauna • Nepenthes species by distribution • Nepenthes cultivars • Nepenthes literature
Nepenthesin • Nepenthales