Nepenthes pudica
A Bornean pitcher plant described in 2022 from a few ridgetop sites in North Kalimantan, and the first pitcher plant known to set its traps underground. Pale, leafless underground stems carry working pitchers in the soil, which mainly catch ants, while few pitchers form on the climbing shoots above ground. It is a highland species from about 1,100β1,300 m, and there is almost no cultivation experience yet.
Where it grows wild
Forest on exposed ridgetops that dry out seasonally. The plant climbs up to about 20 m through the vegetation, but its most distinctive feature is the pale, chlorophyll-free underground stems that produce pitchers in the soil and litter. The describers suggest trapping underground is an adaptation to the moisture stress of these ridgetops, as the soil stays damper than the air above it.
Recorded at 1,100β1,300 m, which puts it in the lower highland band that Nepenthes growers call intermediate.
π Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.