Resending just for the sequence. Pankaj
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Mahadeswara <[email protected]> Date: Feb 15, 2:53 pm Subject: The Pitcher Plants: Family Nepenthaceae Dumort. To: efloraindia Excellent info, which is very useful not only for botanists but also for all plant enthusiasts interested in knowing the importance of the plants. On Feb 15, 12:16 am, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]> wrote: >NepenthesL. Sp. Pl. 2: 955. 1753. >Nepenthesis a group of carnivorous plants, commonly known as Pitcher > Plant or Monkey Cup. It belong to a monotypic family, Nepenthaceae. > Nepenthaceae are insectivorous plants that are easy to recognise > because of the lidded pitchers borne on the end of a twining > prolongation of the leaf. The leaf base itself is broad, further > widening to form a laminar portion that then narrows to form the > twining portion. The plants are dioecious, the inflorescences are > racemes, the flowers are rather inconspicuous, and the seeds are very > small. The family is distributed from Madagascar to New Caledonia > [Source: APG III]. > The genus comprises roughly 130 species, numerous natural and many > cultivated hybrids. They are mostly liana-forming plants of the Old > World tropics, ranging from South China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the > Philippines; westward to Madagascar (2 species) and the Seychelles; > southward to Australia and New Caledonia; and northward to India and > Sri Lanka. The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo and Sumatra with > many endemic species. Many are plants of hot humid lowland areas, but > the majority are tropical montane plants, receiving warm days but cool > to cold humid nights year round. A few are considered tropical alpine > with cool days and nights near freezing. The name monkey cups refers > to the fact that monkeys have been observed drinking rainwater from > these plants. [Source: Wikipedia] > The expanded part of leaf is developed from the leaf base, as in many > monocots, the pitcher from the rest. How insects are trapped in the > pitchers has long been unclear. Recent work suggests that the rim > (peristome) of the pitcher is extremely wettable, and insects may > aquaplane when they step on it, falling in to the pitcher below where > they die and get digested; only when the rim is dry can insects walk > on it easily, and then they may get trapped when they walk on to the > wax-covered inner pitcher walls (Bohn & Federle 2004). Interestingly, > the ant Camponotus schmitzi lives in close association withNepenthes > bicalcarata, and it can run across even the wetted rim. For the fauna > of the pitchers, see Kitching (2000), while Pavlovic et al. (2007) > discuss the physiology of lamina and trap. It has recently been found > that some species ofNepentheswith particularly large pitchers > capture the faeces of tree shrews (Tupaia montana) as they feed from > glands on the inner surfaces of the lids (Chin et al. 2010). [Source: > APG III]. > Regards > Pankaj > Meimberg and Heubl (2006). > -- > *********************************************** > "TAXONOMISTS GETTING EXTINCT AND SPECIES DATA DEFICIENT !!" > Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae) > Research Associate > Greater Kailash Sacred Landscape Project > Department of Habitat Ecology > Wildlife Institute of India > Post Box # 18 > Dehradun - 248001, India > PROTOLOGUENEPENTHES.jpg > 175KViewDownload
