Nepenthes merrilliana
Young plant of Nepenthes merrilliana
Nepenthes merrilliana is a carnivorous plant from the family of pitcher plants plants ( Nepenthaceae ). It is native to the Philippines.
Description
Nepenthes merrilliana is a creeping or climbing plant with a truncated triangular stems 7-10 mm thick. The internodes reach 1.5 to 7 cm in length. The leaves sit scattered, are linear-lanceolate and leathery texture. They are 20-60 cm long and 5-7 cm wide. Your tips are rounded.
The cans have no distinct dimorphism, such as lower upper pitchers are similar to each other. The lower pitchers are broadly ovate with broadly rounded base, they are up to 20 cm high and 12 cm wide, their fringed wing strips are up to 10 mm wide. The peristome is slightly oblique, 8-15 mm wide, flattened and distinctly ribbed. The lid is broadly ovate and 10 cm long and wide. The upper pitchers are broadly elliptical, and 20 to 26 cm long and about 9 inches wide. Instead of the wing strips the top pitchers strongly suggest protruding ribs. The peristome is flattened and rather broad sweeping. It has, as in the lower pitchers on significant grooves. The lid is broadly ovate and rather long than wide.
Male flowers are unknown. The female flowers are up to 20 centimeters long, inflorescence axes in loose clusters, the flower stems are sparsely branched near the base, towards the top individual standing. The 4 mm long bracts are lanceolate and tapering.
Dissemination
Nepenthes merrilliana native to Mindanao in the Philippines, where they settled tropical coastal forests on steep slopes in 20 to 1700 m altitude.
Taxonomy and conservation status
Nepenthes merrilliana was first described in 1911 in Volume 3 of Contributions from the Botanical Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania by John Muirhead Macfarlane. The scientific species name honors the U.S. botanist Elmer Drew Merrill. The species is listed in CITES Convention in Annex II. From the IUCN is classified as " endangered ".