Heliamphora minor

Heliamphora minor

Heliamphora minor is a carnivorous plant and the smallest species of the genus marsh pitchers ( Heliamphora ). The plant is known only from a table mountain from Venezuela.

Features

With 10 to 15 centimeters long hoses and a width of 3-5 centimeters at the opening Heliamphora minor acts rather thick. The lower part of the tube is slightly curved, the upper part is cylindrical to slightly funnel -shaped. The constriction between the two parts is usually not very pronounced.

The plant is inside densely covered with fine hairs, these are 0.1 to 0.5 millimeters long. These fine hairs are barely visible with the naked eye or absent and the inside of the tubes affects mostly smooth. This feature can be used to distinguish which also small but significantly longer hairy Heliamphora pulchella. At the edge of opening a hem sits 1-3 mm long hairs that show and prevent an insect crawls out of the trap inward. Another ring of 4 to 5 mm long fibers located on the inner side in the central part of the trap.

There is a 5 to 15 mm long incision, which serves as an overflow for the rain water on the front of the sheet. The helmet-shaped lid sitting on a small handle, it measures 0.5 to 1 cm in diameter. If there is enough light, the tubes turn red.

Occurrence

Heliamphora minor is endemic to the Auyán - tepui in Canaima National Park in the south of Venezuela.

History of Research

Heliamphora minor was first discovered in 1937 by George Henry Hamilton Tate. The first description dates back to the work of Henry Allan Gleason, the hatte.Julian 1939 described the flora of the Auyán - Tepui Alfred Steyermark 1984 described a form Heliamphora minor f laevis.

Deposits on the Chimantá Massif and the surrounding tepuis such as the Aprada and the Akopan - Tepui, which were previously specified for Heliamphora minor, were sold under the name of Heliamphora pulchella as a separate species in 2005.