Inspired by photos in old reports and on social media, an expedition of botanists traveled to a remote area near the Meliau Ridge in Sabah, Borneo, and discovered an amazing new species of
insect-eating plant. Researchers immediately realized it was already endangered.
The recently described species Nepenthes orangutan-like (Nepenthes pongoides) has a surprisingly large pitcher - a pitcher-like leaf that evolved to trap and digest insects for nutrients that are scarce in the soil.
The largest of the Nepenthes pongoides jugs found was 45 centimeters high and held at least two liters of liquid!
Unlike most other Nepenthes species, most of the new plant is covered with long, coarse, reddish hairs. This resemblance to orangutans (Pongo), was the basis for the species name of the plant, pongoides. Orangutans and Nepenthes pongoides coexist in this part of Malaysian Borneo.
Botanists led by Alviana Damit of the Sabah Forestry Department in Malaysia and Alastair Robinson of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Victoria in Australia were surprised by the timing of their find.
"It is remarkable that Nepenthes orangutaniformis has remained undescribed until now, despite its large size and striking apomorphies (characteristic traits that set a group of species apart from many others and inherited by members of a group from their common ancestor)," they write in their paper in the peer-reviewed CSIRO, an Australian botanical journal from CSIRO Publishing.
Photo: cosmosmagazine.com
The team made two field trips to the Meliau Range, counting individual plants and taking holistic samples for herbarium collections and genetic analyses. They found that, unfortunately, Nepenthes pongoides shares another similarity with orangutans: it meets the criteria for Critically Endangered.
Unlike the orangutan, which is mostly threatened by habitat loss, Nepenthes pongoides is already "almost certainly" threatened by poaching, the authors say. Other Nepenthes species, especially large specimens, are of great interest to the illegal horticultural trade.
"Two species of Nepenthes are already considered extinct in the natural conditions of their habitat thanks to collectors whose willingness to pay huge sums of money for them pushes poachers into the rainforest to collect ornamental plants for lucrative online sale," Robinson says.
An additional challenge to the conservation of Nepenthes pongoides is the limited population size. During extensive surveys, Robinson and his colleagues found only 39 adults.
In addition, these plants were only found in one location in an area of less than 10 square kilometers. This makes Nepenthes pongoides vulnerable to random events, such as fire, wiping out the entire species.
Many scientific questions remain about this unique carnivorous plant, such as what prey it attracts and the evolutionary purpose of its reddish hairs.
Photo: cosmosmagazine.com
In the meantime, Damit and her fellow scientists recommend collecting and propagating seeds of the endangered plant if the Malaysian government allows it. The authors conclude that the survival of the giant pitcher plant "depends entirely on strong and effective government action to conserve the rainforest habitat and its many endangered inhabitants."
For plant enthusiasts wishing to avoid supporting poachers, Robinson advises, "When purchasing plants, do so from reputable nurseries that supply material with known, legal provenance."
It's also important to be realistic - rare plants that aren't often seen for sale and offered
on social media may well be poached. "
At the end of the day, it's much nicer to contemplate these plants in the wild where you can look at them at their best," he adds.