Sabah’s hidden giant: Nepenthes pongoides (Nepenthaceae), a micro-endemic tropical pitcher plant from northern Borneo

Alviana Damit; Nur Adillah Mohd Yusof; Jemson Jumian; Charles Clarke; Alastair S. Robinson

doi:10.1071/BT24050

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 72(8)

Sabah’s hidden giant: Nepenthes pongoides (Nepenthaceae), a micro-endemic tropical pitcher plant from northern Borneo

Alviana Damit ^A ^* , Nur Adillah Mohd Yusof ^A , Jemson Jumian ^A , Charles Clarke ^B and Alastair S. Robinson

^C ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, P.O. 1407, Sandakan 90715, Sabah, Malaysia.

^B Cairns Botanic Gardens, Collins Avenue, Edge Hill, Qld 4870, Australia.

^C Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Birdwood Avenue, Melbourne, Vic 3004, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: alviana.damit@sabah.gov.my, alastair.robinson@rbg.vic.gov.au

Handling Editor: Noushka Reiter

Australian Journal of Botany 72, BT24050 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT24050

Submitted: 8 August 2024 Accepted: 18 November 2024 Published: 12 December 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

A poorly characterised carnivorous tropical pitcher plant (Nepenthes) was identified from old reports of a rarely visited low-elevation ultramafic peak in central Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Potentially apomorphic characters in the limited photographic evidence available led the authors to hypothesise that the taxon represented an undescribed species.

Aims

To locate and document the unknown taxon in situ and, if appropriate, gather sufficient data and voucher material to enable its formal description and associated conservation status assessment.

Methods

An expedition was made to the type locality to make field observations of the taxon, record habitat, population and ecological data such as infauna, prey spectra and numbers of individuals, and to collect representative vouchers, minimising negative impacts on the small population by taking material in the form of terminal cuttings to allow for the in situ regeneration of sampled individuals from axillary nodes.

Key results

Nepenthes pongoides is described and illustrated as new to science. The species is characterised by its large size, peltate tendril exsertion, absence of upper pitchers and extremely well-developed, persistent indumentum of long, coarse, dark reddish trichomes, the extent of which is unsurpassed in any other known Bornean Nepenthes species.

Conclusions

One of the largest species of Nepenthes described in recent years, N. pongoides is endemic to the relatively low-elevation ultramafic Meliau Range of central Sabah. Only 39 mature individuals have been observed across two subpopulations, therefore the species is here assessed as CR (Critically Endangered) under the IUCN Red List criteria owing to its extremely small population size, limited area of occurrence and very high threat of unsustainable poaching for the horticultural trade. As is the case for many microendemic species, the taxon is extremely vulnerable to stochastic events such as fire which, on sufficient scale, could represent extinction level events.

Implications

The documentation of such remarkable new species in comparatively well-explored rainforest regions such as those of northern Borneo highlights the importance of targeted exploration in remaining wilderness areas to uncover hidden biodiversity. Doing so closes gaps in scientific knowledge, and specifically increases the critical taxonomic and ecological knowledge necessary to support the development and implementation of conservation measures required to reduce the risk of species extinction and concomitant loss of biodiversity.

Keywords: biodiversity, Borneo, carnivorous, plants, Malesia, Nepenthes, new species, non-core Caryophyllales, Taxonomy, threatened species.

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