''Nepenthes'' × ''kinabaluensis'' , or the Kinabalu pitcher-plant,Phillipps, A. & A. Lamb 1996. ''

Pitcher-Plants of Borneo ''Pitcher-Plants of Borneo'' is a monograph by Anthea Phillipps and Anthony Lamb on the tropical pitcher plants of Borneo. It was first published in 1996 by Natural History Publications (Borneo), in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, ...

''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. is the natural hybrid between '' N. rajah'' and '' N. villosa''. It was first collected near

Kambarangoh Kambarangoh or Kamburangau, or Kamborangah, or KemburongohWong, K.M. & Phillips, A. (1996) ''Kinabalu, Summit of Borneo''. Sabah Society, Kota Kinabalu. is an area along the summit trail to Low's Peak on Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Borneo. It lies b ...

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran'' or ''Nulu Nabalu'', ) is the highest mountain in Malaysia and Borneo. With a height of , it is the third-highest peak of an island on Earth, the 28th highest peak in Southeast Asia, and 20th most prom ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

Lilian Gibbs Lilian Suzette Gibbs (1870–1925) was a British botanist who worked for the British Museum in London and was an authority on mountain ecosystems. Education She studied initially at Swanley Horticultural College in Kent, UK (1899-1901) and th ...

in 1910 and later mentioned by

John Muirhead Macfarlane John Muirhead Macfarlane FRSE LLD (28 September 1855, Kirkcaldy, Fife – 16 September 1943, Lancaster) was a Scottish botanist. Life He was born in Kirkcaldy in Fife on 28 September 1855. He was educated locally, then studied sciences at the ...

as "''Nepenthes'' sp." in 1914. Although Macfarlane did not formally name the plant, he noted that " l available morphological details suggest that this is a hybrid between ''N. villosa'' and ''N. rajah''". It was finally described in 1976 by

Shigeo Kurata is a Japanese botanist and ''Nepenthes'' taxonomist whose work in the 1960s and 1970s contributed much to the current popularity of these plants.Clarke, C.M. & C.C. Lee 2004. ''Pitcher Plants of Sarawak''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), K ...

as ''N.'' × ''kinabaluensis''. The name was first published in '' Nepenthes of Mount Kinabalu'', but was a ''

nomen nudum In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published ...

'' at the time as it lacked an adequate description and information on the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

. The name was subsequently published validly by Kurata in 1984. The

pitchers In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws (" pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

of ''N.'' × ''kinabaluensis'' may be quite large, but do not compare to those of ''N. rajah'' or ''N.'' × ''alisaputrana'' ('' N. burbidgeae'' × ''N. rajah''). ''Nepenthes'' × ''kinabaluensis'' can only be found on Mount Kinabalu (hence the name) and nearby

Mount Tambuyukon Mount Tambuyukon or Tamboyukon (, Dusun: ''Nulu Tambuyukon'') is a mountain located at the West Coast and Kudat divisions of Sabah, Malaysia (located on the tripoints of three districts namely Ranau, Kota Belud as well as Kota Marudu). It ...

, where the two parent species occur sympatrically.Clarke, C.M. 1997. ''

Nepenthes of Borneo ''Nepenthes of Borneo'' is a monograph by Charles Clarke on the tropical pitcher plants of Borneo.Clarke, C.M. 1997. ''Nepenthes of Borneo''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. It was first published in 1997 by Natural History ...

''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. More specifically, plants are known from a footpath near Paka Cave and several places along an unestablished route on a south-east ridge, which lies on the west side of the Upper Kolopis River.Kurata, S. 1976. '' Nepenthes of Mount Kinabalu''. Sabah National Parks Publications No. 2, Sabah National Parks Trustees, Kota Kinabalu. The only accessible location from which this hybrid is known is the Kinabalu summit trail, between Layang-Layang and the

helipad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...

, where it grows at about 2,900 m in a clearing dominated by ''

Dacrydium gibbsiae ''Dacrydium gibbsiae'' is a conifer species native to Borneo. It grows on Mount Kinabalu on ultramafic soil, and is notable for being able to tolerate the high levels of toxic metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractu ...

'' and ''

Leptospermum recurvum ''Leptospermum recurvum'' is a species of shrub or tree that is native to Mount Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo and to Sulawesi. It has pale, flaky bark, broadly elliptical to almost round leaves, white flowers about wide and fruit that tend to re ...

'' trees. ''Nepenthes × kinabaluensis'' has an altitudinal distribution of 2,420 to 3,030 m.Steiner, H. 2002.'' Borneo: Its Mountains and Lowlands with their Pitcher Plants''. Toihaan Publishing Company, Kota Kinabalu. It grows in open areas in cloud forest. The hybrid is generally intermediate in appearance between its parent species. Raised ribs line the inner edge of the peristome and end with elongated teeth. These are more prominent than those found in ''N. rajah'' and smaller than those of ''N. villosa''. The peristome is coarse and expanded at the margin (but not scalloped like that of ''N. rajah''), the lid orbiculate or

reniform Reniform is an adjective meaning "kidney-shaped". It may refer to: * Reniform habit, a type of crystal shape * Reniform leaf, a plant leaf shape * Reniform seed, a plant seed shape * Reniform stigma, a spot on the wings of certain moths See ...

and almost flat. In general, pitchers are larger than those of ''N. villosa'' and the tendril joins the apex about 1–2 cm below the leaf tip, a feature which is characteristic of ''N. rajah''.Clarke, C.M. 2001. ''

A Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Sabah This list of ''Nepenthes'' literature is a listing of major published works dealing with the tropical pitcher plants of the genus ''Nepenthes''. It includes specialised standalone publications and taxonomic monographs released as part of larger ...

''. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. In older plants, the tendril can be almost woody. ''N.'' × ''kinabaluensis'' is an indumentum of villous hairs covering the pitchers and leaf margins, which is approximately intermediate between the parents. Lower pitchers have two fringed wings, whereas the upper pitchers usually lack these. The colour of the pitcher varies from yellow to scarlet. ''N.'' × ''kinabaluensis'' seems to produce upper pitchers more readily than either of its parents. In all respects ''N.'' × ''kinabaluensis'' is intermediate between the two parent species and it is easy to distinguish from all other ''Nepenthes'' of Borneo. However, it has been confused once before, when the hybrid was identified as ''N. rajah'' in ''Letts Guide to Carnivorous Plants of the World''.Cheers, G. 1992. ''Letts Guide to Carnivorous Plants of the World''. Letts of London House, London.

References

Further reading