''Heliamphora nutans'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''nutans'' = nodding) is a species of marsh pitcher plant native to the border area between

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

, where it grows on several

tepui A tepui , or tepuy (), is a member of a family of table-top mountains or mesas found in northern South America, especially in Venezuela, western Guyana, and northern Brazil. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the ...

s, including

Roraima Roraima ( ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas t ...

, Kukenán, Yuruaní, Maringma, and Wei Assipu. ''Heliamphora nutans'' was the first ''Heliamphora'' to be described and is the best known species.McPherson, S., A. Wistuba, A. Fleischmann & J. Nerz 2011. ''

Sarraceniaceae of South America ''Sarraceniaceae of South America'' is a monograph on the pitcher plants of the genus ''Heliamphora'' by Stewart McPherson, Andreas Wistuba, Andreas Fleischmann, and Joachim Nerz. It was published in September 2011 by Redfern Natural History Pro ...

''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. ''Heliamphora nutans'' was originally discovered in 1839 on

Mount Roraima Mount Roraima (; ) is the highest of the Pacaraima chain of tepuis (table-top mountain) or plateaux in South America. It is located at the junction of Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela. A characteristic large flat-topped mountain surrounded by cliff ...

by the two brothers

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

and Richard Schomburgk, although they did not collect samples to return to Europe. The plant was formally described by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

in 1840, becoming the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of the genus. In 1881, David Burke was plant-hunting in the same area of

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

where he collected specimens of the plant and introduced it to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. This species employs an '

aquaplaning Aquaplaning or hydroplaning by the tires of a road vehicle, aircraft or other wheeled vehicle occurs when a layer of water builds between the wheels of the vehicle and the road surface, leading to a loss of traction that prevents the vehicle ...

' trapping mechanism (whereby prey animals slip into the pitchers on the downwards-pointing hairs, which are significantly more slippy when wet) similar to that of many tropical pitcher plants of the genus ''

Nepenthes ''Nepenthes'' ( ) is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are m ...

''.Ants aquaplaning on a pitcher plant
University of Cambridge. File:Kew.gardens.pitcher.plant.heliamphora.arp.jpg, ''Heliamphora nutans'' at Kew Gardens, London File:Heliamphora nutans (Habitus).jpg, ''Heliamphora nutans'' growing on Mount Roraima in Venezuela File:HeliamphoraNutansFloraDetail2.jpg, Detail of ''H. nutans'' flower File:Heliamphora nutans George Bentham 1840.jpg, Illustration from Bentham's 1840 description

References

* Adlassnig, W., K. Pranji, E. Mayer, G. Steinhauser, F. Hejjas & I.K. Lichtscheidl (2010). The abiotic environment of ''Heliamphora nutans'' (Sarraceniaceae): pedological and microclimatic observations on Roraima Tepui. ''Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology'' 53(2): 425–430. * Barrera, R., D. Fish & C.E. Machado-Allison (1989)
Ecological patterns of aquatic insect communities in two ''Heliamphora'' pitcher-plant species of the Venezuelan highlands.
''Ecotropicos'' 2(1): 31–44. * Brewer-Carías, C. (2012). ''Río Verde'' 8: 77–94. * Fleischmann, A., A. Wistuba & S. McPherson (21 December 2007). ''Drosera solaris'' (Droseraceae), a new sundew from the Guayana Highlands. ''Willdenowia'' 37(2): 551–555. * Gonzalez, J.M., K. Jaffe & F. Michelangeli (December 1991). Competition for prey between the carnivorous Bromeliaceae ''Brocchinia reducta'' and Sarraceneacea ''Heliamphora nutans''. ''Biotropica'' 23(4B): 602–604. * Joel, D.M., B.E. Juniper & A. Dafni (December 1985). Ultraviolet patterns in the traps of carnivorous plants. ''New Phytologist'' 101(4): 585–593. * Kelloff, C.L., S.N. Alexander, V.A. Funk & H.D. Clarke (2011)
Smithsonian Plant Collections, Guyana: 1995–2004, H. David Clarke.
''Smithsonian Contributions to Botany'' 97: i–viii, 1–307. * Kok, P.J.R. (20 October 2008)
A new highland species of ''Arthrosaura'' Boulenger, 1885 (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from Maringma tepui on the border of Guyana and Brazil.
''Zootaxa'' 1909: 1–15. * Lindley, J. (1846)
Order CLV. Sarraceniaceæ.—Sarraceniads.
In
''The Vegetable Kingdom; or, The Structure, Classification, and Uses of Plants, Illustrated upon the Natural System''
Bradbury & Evans, London. p. 429. * McPherson, S. (2007). ''Pitcher Plants of the Americas''. The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Blacksburg, Virginia. * Nerz, J. (December 2004)

''

Carnivorous Plant Newsletter The ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' is the official publication of the International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS), the largest such organization in the world. It is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. History and editorship The news ...

'' 33(4): 111–116. * Steyermark, J.A. ''et al.'' (18 May 1951)
Sarraceniaceae
p. 239–242In
Contributions to the flora of Venezuela. Botanical exploration in Venezuela - 1.
''Fieldiana: Botany'' 28(1): 1–242. * Wistuba, A., T. Carow & P. Harbarth (September 2002)

''

'' 31(3): 78–82. * ttp://www.brucemeans.com/journal/journalVenezula2006.htm Journal of Venezuela Expedition January/February 2006 by D. Bruce Means Journals: D. Bruce Means, PhD. {{Taxonbar, from=Q146102 nutans Flora of Venezuela Flora of Brazil Flora of Guyana Flora of the Tepuis

References

Further reading