Nepenthes robcantleyi aka "Nepenthes black truncata"

One of the plants that the Nepenthes community had so much talked about these last years, Nepenthes "black truncata" has just been described as a new species by Dr. Martin Cheek from Kew Gardens.

References:

Cheek Martin (December, 2011). Nepenthes robcantleyi sp. nov. (Nepenthaceae) from Mindanao, Philippines, Nordic Journal of Botany 29: 677-681.

http://www.ipni.org/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=77116317-1

Here is the abstract from the paper which should be shortly avalaible here:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1756-1051.2011.01449.x/abstract

"Nepenthes robcantleyi Cheek sp. nov. from Mindanao, Philippines is described and illustrated in the Regiae group of Danser, as the second taxon of that group known from the Philippines. The conservation status of the species is assessed as ‘Critically Endangered’ (CR) as the only known population, found in 1997, has allready been logged and the species may then has gone extinct in the wild."

The hundreds of "black truncata" that have been sold in the market these last couple of years are offsprings of two plants raised from seeds. Two particularly black coloured plants have been called Nepenthes 'Queen of Hearts' and Nepenthes 'King of Spades' a third and a fourth individual also got their own cultivar names: Nepenthes 'King of Hearts' and Nepenthes 'King of Clubs'). These four plants belong to a group of nine dark pitchered "Nepenthes truncata" which have been raised from seed collected in 1997 from a highland population of N. truncata from Pasian, Mindanao, Philippines. Among that population, two plants with very dark pitchers were found which are now extinct in the wild, or so it seems. The Sri Lanka based nursery Borneo Exotics, through the work of their owners, Rob Cantley and Diana Williams, have thus literaly prevent the extinction of that plant, now a a species of its own recognized by science.

All the offsprings (ie Nepenthes 'Queen of Hearts' x Nepenthes 'King of Spades') and the nine former individuals belong to the newly described Nepenthes Robcantleyi Cheek.

Here are a few pictures of this newly described species

(unless mentionned otherwise, all photos of this post are courtesy of Borneo Exotics)

A "usual" N. truncata from Pasian. This kind of N. truncata originates from the same area where N. robcantleyi had been observed.

N. robcantleyi 'Queen of Hearts'

N. robcantleyi 'King of Spades'

N. robcantleyi 'King of Clubs'

The holotype of Nepenthes robcantleyi is deposited at Kew herbarium and has been collected in 2010 from one of the original seedgrown plants. Although describing a plant from cultivated material is not something we should long to, it couldn't have been done otherwise here, and, after all, it's not the first time in the genus.

According to the description, Nepenthes robcantleyi is more related to N. veitchii than to N. truncata it self. This will be surprising to Nepenthes enthusiast - including me- as we all see N. robcantleyi (that will still be called "Nepenthes black truncata" for a while) as extremely close to N. truncata. While N. veitchii is hairy, N. robcantleyi appears glabrous (the indumentum is actually very thin) and, of course, N. robcantleyi is very closely related to N. truncata.

N. robcantelyi develop fringed wings in its largest pitchers while N. truncata has much reduced wings with no fringes. The peristome size is much larger in N. robcantleyi with the ribs being more spaced than in N. truncata. The glands of N.robcantleyi are also very different from N. truncata and are actually more similar to N. veitchii's.

                                 N. robcantleyi                                                           N. truncata

(both pictures are not on the same scale. The N. truncata peristome is smaller)B

However, to me, the connection with N. veitchii is much more less obvious than the very close relation of N. robcantleyi to N. truncata. I must not look at this new species with the same eyes than Martin Cheek since he chose N. veitchii as the closest relative in his latin diagnosis of N. robcantleyi (the latin diagnose, in Botanical nomenclature, is a short description written in Latin that preceedes the full description. It usually establishes a connection with another plant, always the closest relative, N. veitchii here). Nevertheless, the resemblance with N. veitchii does exist. Check the following link: it's obvious: http://hortlog.blogspot.com/2012/01/nepenthes-robcantleyi-yet-another.html

 

The possibility of a hybrid origin involving N. truncata and another species (either a Filipino one or N. veitchii (a bornean species) has been ruled out in the paper. On top of that, some characters are unique to N. robcantleyi and have not been seen in either N. truncata and N. veitchii: the lid dome, the presence of bracts, and the gland distribution.

 

The paper really emphasises the relationship between N. robcantleyi and N. veitchii, surmising that they could share a same ancestor. One can wonder though if one of the ancestors of N. robcantleyi, after his arrival in what is now called Mindanao, could have interbred with N. truncata or one of its ancestors (that's my personal opinion here ;-) Besides, N. robcantleyi, initially known from two plants only in the wild (see above) was growing in sympatry with N. truncata.

We don't know if this new species grows somewhere else in the Philippines. It might now be extinct in the wild and has consequently been assessed in the paper as Critically Endangered (CR).
However, it is conceivable that Mindanao still holds a few populations of N. robcantleyi ; further field research are required. This year, my friend Andy Smith was studying various Nepenthes populations in Mindanao with a team of scientists and they took the following picture of an epiphytic dark "N. truncata" which, from a distance, bears a striking resemblance with N. robcantleyi (note the wings):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54482240@N03/6581717163/in/photostream/

Oh by the way, did I forget to mention that Nepenthes robcantleyi is just one of the most spectacular and desirable Nepenthes ever? ;-)

Rob Cantley with Nepenthes robcantleyi 'Queen of Hearts'

(photo by Borneo Exotics)

Two following pictures by Cindy Chiang Lih Pyng showing the same plant:

Diana Williams with the 'Queen of Hearts':

You can follow the ongoing discussion on this new species on the Pitcherplants in the Tropics forum:
http://pitcherplants.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=10684&page=1#89868


CAUTION: Do not confuse Nepenthes robcantleyi with Nepenthes x "Cantleyi", the natural hybrid of N. bicalcarata and N. gracilis. Though it has to be reminded that N. x "Cantelyi" is not a legitimate name; it has not been formerly described.