Nepenthes ulukaliana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the southern Titiwangsa Range in Peninsular Malaysia. Nepenthes ulukaliana was compared to Nepenthes macfarlanei however, it exhibits several distinctions which include pitchers adorned with a dense covering of filamentous lid hairs measuring less than 1 mm long (in contrast to pitchers with numerous lid hairs that are thickened and range from 5 to 12 mm long in N. macfarlanei). Also, the lower pitchers of N. ulukaliana have an amphora-shaped to urceolate form (as opposed to being ovoid in shape in N. macfarlanei in the basal portion of the pitcher with a faint hip and then turning cylindrical above the hip). Furthermore, the peristome of N. ulukaliana is planar at the front, with a well-defined column that emerges abruptly and perpendicularly at the rear (while the peristome of N. macfarlanei is curved in lateral aspect, with the column arising gradually).[1]

Nepenthes ulukaliana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Nepenthaceae
Genus: Nepenthes
Species:
N. ulukaliana
Binomial name
Nepenthes ulukaliana
A.S.Rob., Wistuba, Mey, Golos, G.Lim & S.McPherson, 2023[1]

Etymology

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The name for this species was derived from the name of the mountain, Gunung Ulu Kali, the type locality of the taxon.[1]

Phenology

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The species was observed to flower throughout the year, with female plants in the peak of anthesis around January.[1]

Distribution and ecology

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Individuals of N. ulukaliana were recorded at 8 peaks of the southern Titiwangsa Range with an elevation range of above 1,200 meters above sea level and reaching an upper limit of 1,772 meters above sea level on the peak of Gunung Ulu Kali, the species highest known elevation.[1]

This particular species can be found growing terrestrially and epiphytically within mossy forests. It is also commonly encountered in areas with known disturbances such as roadsides.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lim, Gideon; Golos, Michal R.; Mey, François S.; Wistuba, Andreas; McPherson, Stewart R.; Robinson, Alastair S. (April 13, 2023). Delimitation of the Nepenthes macfarlanei Group with two species described as new In: Nepenthes - The Tropical Pitcher Plants Volume 3 (PDF). Redfern Natural History Productions. ISBN 978-1-908787-49-1. Retrieved May 27, 2023. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)