Well this could be a (nother) controversial taxon. It has been published last December in Blumea. The plant once known as "Nepenthes rafflesiana var . elongata" - an informal horticultural name for a N. rafflesiana with slender upper pitchers- has now been elevated to specied rank. It must now be refered to as Nepenthes baramensis (named after the Baram river region in Borneo).
C. Clarke, Moran J. A. , Lee C. C. (2011). Nepenthes baramensis (Nepenthaceae) - a new species from north western Borneo. Blumea 56: 229-233 (5).
(You can download the paper)
Superficially, N. baramensis is extremely closely related to N. rafflesiana so it can be bewildering to some to have them as two different species.
The paper says: "Although the visible morphological differences between them are comparatively slight, there are additional differences in ontogeny, physiology and chemistry (see Table 1, 2) that are consistent and appear to be involved in divergent N-acquisition strategies. Accordingly, we here describe the elongate form as a new species, Nepenthes baramensis sp. nov."
This will be a suprising decision to most readers I think. However all three authors are experts of the genus and their knowledge of the field is immense ; I would certainly not take their opinion lightly.
There are few morphological differences between N. baramensis and N. rafflesiana; those essentially dwell in the upper pitchers . It is clear that this treatment (ie making "rafflesiana var. elongata" a species on its own) induces that ecology should play an important role on how we classify species. Nepenthes baramensis is known for attracting bats from the species Kerivoula hardwickii that roosts in their pitchers. The plant might take benefit from it. By highlighting the importance of ecology, the authors are, in a sense, breaking new ground. A point that they highlight in the conclusion of their paper:
"The present study adds to the findings of Clarke & Moran (2011) who noted that several unique ecological relationships between highly-specialized Nepenthes species and various species of animals are facilitated by modifications to pitcher characters. However, these traits either went unnoticed, or were considered unimportant or insufficiently consistent, in previous taxonomic accounts (e.g., Danser 1928, Cheek & Jebb 2001, Clarke et al. 2010). A possible explanation for this is that important ecological interactions with animals may be facilitated by minor modifications to trap characteristics (Clarke et al. 2010, Clarke & Moran 2011), and without the support of ecological data, the taxonomic importance of these traits is easily overlooked (especially when similar traits in other species vary to greater degrees, despite having no known ecologicalfunction). Our interpretation of the status of N. baramensis is based on both ecology and plant morphology; by linking the two, we confer taxonomic value on morphological variations that might otherwise seem unimportant. [...] the use of ecological information to address taxonomic questions and hypotheses is still in its infancy with regard to Nepenthes. Although the initial outcomes of this approach are encouraging, we emphasise the need for high levels of scientific rigour in designing and conducting subsequent ecological experiments for this purpose."
This paper might be visionnary.
The paper says: "Although the visible morphological differences between them are comparatively slight, there are additional differences in ontogeny, physiology and chemistry (see Table 1, 2) that are consistent and appear to be involved in divergent N-acquisition strategies. Accordingly, we here describe the elongate form as a new species, Nepenthes baramensis sp. nov."
Photos below show N. baramensis in Brunei.
Courtesy of Vincent Bazile ;-)
This will be a suprising decision to most readers I think. However all three authors are experts of the genus and their knowledge of the field is immense ; I would certainly not take their opinion lightly.
There are few morphological differences between N. baramensis and N. rafflesiana; those essentially dwell in the upper pitchers . It is clear that this treatment (ie making "rafflesiana var. elongata" a species on its own) induces that ecology should play an important role on how we classify species. Nepenthes baramensis is known for attracting bats from the species Kerivoula hardwickii that roosts in their pitchers. The plant might take benefit from it. By highlighting the importance of ecology, the authors are, in a sense, breaking new ground. A point that they highlight in the conclusion of their paper:
"The present study adds to the findings of Clarke & Moran (2011) who noted that several unique ecological relationships between highly-specialized Nepenthes species and various species of animals are facilitated by modifications to pitcher characters. However, these traits either went unnoticed, or were considered unimportant or insufficiently consistent, in previous taxonomic accounts (e.g., Danser 1928, Cheek & Jebb 2001, Clarke et al. 2010). A possible explanation for this is that important ecological interactions with animals may be facilitated by minor modifications to trap characteristics (Clarke et al. 2010, Clarke & Moran 2011), and without the support of ecological data, the taxonomic importance of these traits is easily overlooked (especially when similar traits in other species vary to greater degrees, despite having no known ecologicalfunction). Our interpretation of the status of N. baramensis is based on both ecology and plant morphology; by linking the two, we confer taxonomic value on morphological variations that might otherwise seem unimportant. [...] the use of ecological information to address taxonomic questions and hypotheses is still in its infancy with regard to Nepenthes. Although the initial outcomes of this approach are encouraging, we emphasise the need for high levels of scientific rigour in designing and conducting subsequent ecological experiments for this purpose."
This paper might be visionnary.
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