Nepenthes alata

Nepenthes alata

Nepenthes alata is a Kannenpflanzenart from the family of pitcher plants plants ( Nepenthaceae ), it is native to the Philippines. It was first described in 1837 by Francisco Manuel Blanco.

Description

Nepenthes alata is a climbing plant, its stem axis is between four and eight millimeters thick and up to four meters high.

The leathery leaves are formed at equal intervals of 1.5 to four inches along the stem axis. At each node sits up to five inches long, winged petiole, which in up to ten inches long and about two inches wide, narrowly elliptic or inversely lanceolate - up goes spatulate apparent leaf blade, but in the strict sense only a re-formed leaf base represents. This is divided by a center rib, from its approach running close to her two to four side ribs.

Your pitchers are green to reddish, up to 20 inches long and 6 inches wide, bulbous bottom and cylindrical above. In addition Nepenthes alata has two racks that are not hard and pointy.

At Art Max Planck Institute for Metals Research studies were conducted about the nature of the wax coating of the can interior in 2005 from. It turned out that a double layer of wax is formed. The upper softer layer consists of platelet-shaped, stalked crystals, which in turn rest on a harder, sharp protruding wax layer. The crystals of the top layer stick together, the adhesive hairs of insect legs, the bottom layer minimizes the adhesive contact in addition, by reducing the surface. The trade is often found hybrids of Nepenthes alata Nepenthes ventricosa and since these particularly easy to grow and are very vigorous, but are often declared as pure N. alata.

Dissemination

The species is native to the Philippine highlands, at altitudes 400-2400 m. It grows in mossy forests, occasionally on floors on ultrabasischem rock.

Swell

  • Cheek, M. & Jebb, M.: Nepenthaceae, in: Flora Malesiana 15: 1-164, 2001, ISBN 90-71236-49-8
  • Gorb E., Haas K., Henrich A., Enders S., Barbakadze N. and Gorb S. Composite structure of the crystalline epicuticular wax layer of the slippery zone in the pitchers of the carnivorous plant Nepenthes alata and its effect on insect. attachment, in: The Journal of experimental Biology, 2005, vol 208, 4651-4662
Genus
597955
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