Nepenthes glabrata

Species of pitcher plant from Indonesia

Nepenthes glabrata /n//ᵻ/'/p//ɛ//n//θ//iː//z// //ɡ//l//æ/'/b//r//ɑː//t//ə/ is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sulawesi. The species grows in open, high forest at elevations of 1600 to 2100 m. It produces dainty, colourful pitchers reaching only a few centimetres in height. These traps are red speckled on a yellowish background, giving them a "hand painted" appearance. The specific epithet glabrata is derived from the Latin word glaber, meaning "hairless", and refers to the mostly glabrous nature of this species.

As in the case of N. eymae and N. hamata, two formal descriptions of this species were published almost concurrently. The first, by Shigeo Kurata under the name N. rubromaculata, Although Kurata's article was printed first, the name he used is a later homonym of a horticultural hybrid published in 1891 (N. × rubromaculata) and is thus a nomen illegitimum (illegitimate name). Nepenthes glabrata (emended with a feminine suffix) is therefore the correct name for this species. The holotype of N. glabrata, J. R. Turnbull & A. T. Middleton 83113a, was collected on August 31, 1983, from the Tri Tunggal Eboni Corp. logging concession in Central Sulawesi at an altitude of 1666 m. Hobbyists distinguished two forms: "Palo Alto", which produces more compact pitchers and narrow leaves that turn purple under high light levels; and "Forestville", which has somewhat larger pitchers, particularly aerial ones. The stem is terete to slightly two ridged and up to 3 mm in diameter. Internodes are up to 3 cm long. A putative natural hybrid with the former has been recorded. Nepenthes glabrata is classified as Least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, based on an assessment carried out in 2015. which also includes four other closely related species from Borneo and Sulawesi: N. hamata, N. muluensis, N. murudensis, and N. tentaculata. In their 2001 monograph, Cheek and Jebb considered N. glabrata to be most closely allied to N. muluensis based on its atypical lid nervation as well as the size, shape, and pigmentation of its upper pitchers. N. maxima, and N. tentaculata. The hybrid plants are generally intermediate in appearance between their parent species.