Жұмсақ құмыралы өсімдігі (Borneo)

Tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo

Nepenthes mollis (/n//ᵻ/'/p//ɛ//n//θ//iː//z// /'/m//ɒ//l//ɪ//s/; from Latin: mollis = soft; referring to the covering of hairs), or the velvet pitcher plant, and is the sole recognised species in the genus Nepenthes of which the pitchers are unknown. In 2019 Global Wildlife Conservation announced the rediscovery of the species. The habitat of N. mollis is listed as dense forest on a steep slope at an elevation of 1,800 m. The species is only known from Mount Kemul, the type locality, although a wider distribution is possible, as several higher neighbouring mountains remain unexplored. Charles Clarke suggests that it may occur in mossy forest. No infraspecific taxa of this species have been described. Nepenthes mollis was formally described in 1928 by B. H. Danser in his seminal monograph "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies". Danser wrote of this species:

All parts of the plant are covered in an indumentum of very dense brown hairs. The stem has a velvety coating of dense, coarse, brown, spreading hairs. These hairs are up to 2 mm long, some being shorter and branched, others longer and unbranched. A similar, though longer and much denser, covering of hairs exists on younger parts of the stem and near the axils, on the underside and top of the midrib, and on the undeveloped pitchers. The underside of the leaves is densely hirsute and bears short branched and longer unbranched, softer hairs. The upper surface is also densely hirsute, but has short, simple, whitish hairs. The peduncle and axis are entirely covered in an indumentum of red brown hairs. The partial peduncles, sepals, and staminal column bear short, crisp hairs. In Nepenthes of Borneo, Charles Clarke notes that "from Fig. 14 in Danser (1928), [N. mollis] looks somewhat like N. hirsuta", although he states that it seems to be larger than that species.

Tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo

Nepenthes mollis (/n//ᵻ/'/p//ɛ//n//θ//iː//z// /'/m//ɒ//l//ɪ//s/; from Latin: mollis = soft; referring to the covering of hairs), or the velvet pitcher plant, and is the sole recognised species in the genus Nepenthes of which the pitchers are unknown. In 2019 Global Wildlife Conservation announced the rediscovery of the species. The habitat of N. mollis is listed as dense forest on a steep slope at an elevation of 1,800 m. The species is only known from Mount Kemul, the type locality, although a wider distribution is possible, as several higher neighbouring mountains remain unexplored. Charles Clarke suggests that it may occur in mossy forest. No infraspecific taxa of this species have been described. Nepenthes mollis was formally described in 1928 by B. H. Danser in his seminal monograph "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies". Danser wrote of this species:

All parts of the plant are covered in an indumentum of very dense brown hairs. The stem has a velvety coating of dense, coarse, brown, spreading hairs. These hairs are up to 2 mm long, some being shorter and branched, others longer and unbranched. A similar, though longer and much denser, covering of hairs exists on younger parts of the stem and near the axils, on the underside and top of the midrib, and on the undeveloped pitchers. The underside of the leaves is densely hirsute and bears short branched and longer unbranched, softer hairs. The upper surface is also densely hirsute, but has short, simple, whitish hairs. The peduncle and axis are entirely covered in an indumentum of red brown hairs. The partial peduncles, sepals, and staminal column bear short, crisp hairs. In Nepenthes of Borneo, Charles Clarke notes that "from Fig. 14 in Danser (1928), [N. mollis] looks somewhat like N. hirsuta", although he states that it seems to be larger than that species.

In 1999, an article by Bruce Salmon entitled "Nepenthes mollis (Nepenthaceae)—Rediscovered?" was published in the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter. In the article, Salmon describes male specimens of an unidentified Nepenthes species, referred to as N. sp., collected on Mount Lumarku at an altitude of 1,700 m in "tall dense forest on an exposed ridge line". Based on close morphological similarities and plausible geographical overlap, he suggests that the unidentified taxon may represent N. mollis. Salmon compares the two as follows:

While describing the stems and leaves [of N. sp.] I came across a drawing of N. mollis in Danser's monograph (Danser, 1928). It looked exactly like the pressed specimen that I had in front of me. I then began to compare the two and found that they matched exactly, including the hairiness, except for the following differences. N. mollis N. sp. Leaf Base: Decurrent into 2 wings, 1 cm broad at the top, 4 6 cm long, gradually attenuate. Decurrent for 1 2 cm. Pedicels: Without bract. Bract originating from the base of the pedicel 3 4 mm long. To bring these differences into perspective, remember that the differences above are both from pressed herbarium specimens and that Danser never saw a live specimen of N. mollis. In living specimens of N. sp. the base of the leaf is petiolate in the lower 4 5 cm with the leaf edges curled upwards. When pressed they are flattened and the leaf is narrowly lanceolate as in Danser's drawing of N. mollis. The leaf sheathing on pressed plants of N. sp. is also flattened and looks decurrent instead. Without reference to a living plant you would be none the wiser. Could this be the same with Danser's N. mollis specimen? The degree of supposed leaf decurrence and the bracts on the pedicels can be explained by natural variation within the range of this species. There are enough high mountains between those that contain N. sp. (G. Lumarku, G. Murud, Meligan Range) in the northwest and N. mollis (G. Kemul) in the southeast to provide a link between the two. Salmon also notes that the growth habit of N. sp. is similar to that proposed for N. mollis, writing "N. mollis reputedly lacks upper pitchers. N. sp. also exhibits this trait especially in the upper 70 cm of a flowering stem". He suggests that plants may cease pitcher production when stressed, such as during a dry season. An editor's note by Jan Schlauer accompanying Salmon's article cautions that live specimens from the type locality of N. mollis must be examined before the two taxa are united. Its natural range is now known to cover northern Sarawak, Brunei, and southwestern Sabah, although it has not been recorded from Kalimantan. If N. mollis and N. hurrelliana were shown to be conspecific, the latter would become a heterotypic synonym of the former. Recent monographs on the genus maintain that N. mollis has not been relocated in the wild since Endert's original collection. In the 2008 edition of Pitcher Plants of Borneo, Anthea Phillipps, Anthony Lamb, and Ch'ien Lee write: "some climbing stems of the recently described N. hurrelliana appear very similar to [N. mollis], though it is uncertain if these plants are related".