Discovered in the ultramafic mountains in central Sabah, the species was named for the orangutan, due to its hairs striking resemblance to the great apes long, dark, rusty-red hair.Orangutan pitcher plant (Nepenthes pongoides) just discovered in Sabah, on the tropical island of ... [+] Borneo. (Credit: Alastair Robinson.)Alastair Robinson, with kind permission.An international team of botanists report they have just described a new species of giant pitcher plant that lives in a tiny area in the mountains on Borneo. The botanists, who are from Malaysia and Australia, discovered this rare tropical plant in May 2023, after it had originally been photographed in the wild in 2004. Additional photographs were captured in 2018, clearly revealing that this plant was probably a new species to science. The researchers planned an expedition in 2019 to locate the plant again but were delayed by the pandemic, but they eventually were able to search for it last year.The goal of the expedition was to make detailed field observations of the plant, to record its habitat, population size and ecological data and to collect representative samples whilst minimising harm by only taking terminal cuttings so the sampled individuals would survive and could regenerate.Oilpalm plantation of local smallholders along the Buis-Kiabau-Road. In the background is the Meliau ... [+] Range. The Meliau Range is a poorly-explored mountainous area in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, known for its rare and unique plant and animal species. (Credit: Uwe Aranas / CC BY-SA 3.0)Uwe Aranas via a Creative Commons licenseAccording to the formal description, the plant is the largest Nepenthes species yet discovered. The plants pitchers are enormous with distinctive bell-shaped upper and lower pitchers and narrow, upright lids. These pitchers capture rainfall and a variety of prey animals, both of which sustain and nourish the plant in a rocky environment where there is no running water. The researchers discovered a diversity of animal prey, from beetles and centipedes to giant millipedes and even freshwater crabs, inside the plants pitchers creatures that most other pitcher plants are too small to trap.MORE FOR YOUMost unusually, the leaves of this pitcher plant are covered in thick, rust colored fur (Figure 3) a distinctive and unique characteristic found in no other Bornean Nepenthes species known so far. For this reason, the plant was given the scientific name, Nepenthes pongoides, in honor of the Critically Endangered orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, which lives in the area.Figure 3. Indumentum of Nepenthes pongoides. (a) Emerging foliage and phyllode bases densely covered ... [+] with long, rufous to reddish-gold hairs. (b) Tendril bearing long, pilose to hirsute and uniformly retrorse hairs. (c) Adaxial surface of phyllode with reddish indumentum of pilose hairs, particularly apparent along midrib. (d) Pubescent hairs of phyllode abaxial surface. (e) Scanning electron micrograph of phyllode abaxial surface hairs with bristle-like processes indicated (red arrows). Note scattered sessile glands between hairs. (f ) Simple and variably dendritic (red arrows) hairs on lower surface of lid. Scales: (d) = 1 cm; (e), (f) = 1 mm. Photographs (a) by A. Damit; (b)(f) by A.S. Robinson. (doi:10.1071/BT24050)doi:10.1071/BT24050We decided to name this plant after the orangutan primarily because of the long red hair that covers most parts of the plant, said field botanist and plant taxonomist Alastair Robinson, the managing botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.When hes not searching for rare botanical treasures, Dr Robinson oversees plant identifications services, the identification web portals (VicFlora & HortFlora), the Library and Artwork components of the State Botanical Collection, the Conservation Seedbank, and the botanical journal Muelleria. Amongst his many activities, specialities and accolades, Dr Robinson is recognized as the worlds authority on plant carnivory in a range of genera, particularly Drosera (sundews) and Nepenthes.It just so happened that the night before we reached the plants, we had a fleeting glimpse of an orangutan, putting that comparison front of mind, Dr Robinson mentioned.Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), Tanjung Putting National Park in Indonesia. The park is famous ... [+] for its orangutan conservation. (Credit: Thomas Fuhrmann / CC BY-SA 4.0)Thomas Fuhrmann via a Creative Commons licenseAdmittedly its not quite as hairy as an orangutan, its more like a really hairy-chested man.But the colour is almost the same as orangutan fur, Dr Robinson added, before pointing out that the team agreed to christen these plants as the orangutan pitcher plant whilst still on the mountain.It is also a positive conservation link since the orangutan is also a critically endangered species; in the age of plant blindness, it seemed like an appropriate link to make since the charismatic orangutan is well-loved around the world, while this hitherto unknown plant might benefit from that association, possibly even influencing the protections it receives.What surprised you most about this plant?The most surprising thing about this plant was the long red hair covering its foliage and pitchers, but also its very large size; the largest pitcher documented so far was 45 cm tall and capable of holding at least 2 L of water, Dr Robinson replied in email.Its just surprising that such a striking and large plant should go relatively unnoticed up until the present day.This may be because these plants are hidden in rock piles in a relatively inaccessible and poorly known mountainous area.An orangutan pitcher plant (Nepenthes pongoides) in the wild, with a grown man's boot (lower right) ... [+] for a size comparison. (Credit: Alastair S. Robinson.)Alastair S. Robinson with kind permission.[W]e found 39 individuals across two sub populations following a fairly exhaustive search. A proportion of these were juvenile and thus dont count yet as breeding plants, so the actual mature population is even lower, Dr Robinson told me in email on Christmas Day.Is it possible that there is another sub population or two of these plants that remain undiscovered? How big is the range occupied by these plants?The range that these plants grow in is not very large and so it is improbable that there are additional sub populations, though we certainly hope to be proven wrong when further exploration of this range occurs, Dr Robinson replied in email.Because they have such a small range, and there are so few plants known so far, how do they protect themselves from inbreeding?As far as genetics go, Nepenthes are dioecious, with separate male and female plants, which prevents self-pollination and presumably inbreeding, though this hypothesis is not well tested, Dr Robinson explained. However, it has been found to increase genetic diversity and to protect against deleterious mutations, and may partly account for why inbreeding does not appear to be a problem in the many microendemic Nepenthes known.It appears these range-limited rare plants may have other strategies to bolster their genetic resilience as well.Most of these microendemic species also occur in close proximity to other more widespread Nepenthes, and genetic transfer may play a factor in shoring up genetic resilience in naturally small populations, Dr Robinson added.Orangutan pitcher plant (Nepenthes pongoides) basking in the sun. (Credit: Alastair S. Robinson.)Alastair S. Robinson with kind permission.Nonetheless, such a tiny range predisposes this species to extinction. Dr Robinson and co-authors pointed out in their study (ref) that a wildfire or illegal collecting for the horticultural trade could easily wipe out the entire species. Indeed, Dr Robinson noted that even before they reached the site, there was evidence that poachers had already been in the area and had stolen some specimens because these plants had been posted online for sale. So are steps being taken to protect these plants?Since the plant has just been described, it is only afforded general protections under Malaysian law, however, we are hopeful that the species can be given a more protected status and ideally receive some attention from government to try to save this population from an unfortunate fate, Dr Robinson replied in email. How that is done is ultimately up to the Malaysian government, and there are various ways of achieving this.What is the best way to protect these plants? Would captive propagation help protect them from illegal collecting for the botanical trade?In situ conservation is always the ideal outcome, protecting the plants and their habitat from damage, however, if it were possible to locate seed and grow the plants up in laboratory conditions, they could be multiplied and distributed easily to botanic gardens and even nurseries worldwide, thereby reducing the collecting pressure on the wild populations.Due to its small population size and extreme vulnerability to illegal collection by plant collectors, the orangutan pitcher plant is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Indeed, poaching to meet the high market value of these ornamental plants is the most significant threat to most wild Nepenthes populations. There are more than 160 species of Nepenthes known so far but already, two species are extinct in the wild due to poaching.To finally discover and sample these rare plants in the wild, Dr Robinson and collaborators launched two expeditions to two separate locations in 2023, but still were only able to discover 39 of the plants in total. This discovery highlights the extreme vulnerability of these plants to extinction if quick and decisive action is not taken to protect them from poaching, and naming this critically endangered plant after a critically endangered animal certainly draws a strong conservation parallel for them both.Source:Alviana Damit, Nur Adillah Mohd Yusof, Jemson Jumian, Charles Clarke and Alastair S. Robinson (2024). Sabahs hidden giant: Nepenthes pongoides (Nepenthaceae), a micro-endemic tropical pitcher plant from northern Borneo, Australian Journal of Botany 72(8):BT24050 | doi:10.1071/BT24050 Copyright by GrrlScientist | hosted by Forbes | LinkTr.ee