Nepenthes fallax

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Nepenthes fallax

Upper pitchers of N. fallax growing along a logging road to Mount Murud

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Nepenthaceae
Genus:	Nepenthes
Species:	N. fallax

Binomial name

Nepenthes fallax
Beck (1895)

Synonyms

Nepenthes alata
auct. non Blanco: Smythies (1965)
Nepenthes boschiana var. lowii
Hook.f. (1873)
Nepenthes boschiana
auct. non Korth.: Macfarl. (1908)
[=N. boschiana/N. fallax]
Nepenthes fusca subsp. apoensis
J.H.Adam & Wilcock ex Jebb & Cheek (1997) nom.nud.
Nepenthes maxima
auct. non Reinw. ex Nees: Becc. (1886)
[=N. boschiana/N. fallax/N. maxima/N. sumatrana]
Nepenthes maxima var. lowii
(Hook.f.) Becc. (1886)
?Nepenthes pilosa
auct. non Danser: Phillipps & A.L.Lamb (1988)
Nepenthes sandakanensis
J.H.Adam & Wilcock (1996)
Nepenthes sandakanensis var. eglandulosa
J.H.Adam & Wilcock (1996)
Nepenthes sandakanensis var. ferruginea
J.H.Adam & Wilcock (1996)
Nepenthes stenophylla
auct. non Mast.: Danser (1928)

Nepenthes fallax (pronounced /nəˈpɛnθiːz ˈfælæks/, from Latin: fallax = spurious, not genuine) is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It produces attractive funnel-shaped pitchers up to 15 cm high.^[1]

There has been confusion surrounding this taxon and N. stenophylla ever since it was first described. N. fallax matches N. stenophylla in most respects, except for the shape of the lid; the type specimen of N. fallax has an orbiculate lid, whereas that of N. stenophylla is narrow. However, the description of N. stenophylla was based on a plant raised from seed in a greenhouse in England, and the shape of the lid could be an aberrant characteristic resulting from artificial growing conditions.^[1]

In his seminal monograph "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies", B. H. Danser treated N. fallax as a junior synonym of N. stenophylla.^[2] This interpretation was supported by a number of subsequent authors.^[3]^[1]

Jan Schlauer, however, considers the taxa as two separate species based on the shape of the lid.^[1]^[4]

Lower pitcher of cultivated plant

Herbarium specimens of N. fallax (including holotype)

[edit] Natural hybrids

The following natural hybrids involving N. fallax have been recorded.

N. fallax × N. lowii^[1]
N. fallax × N. rajah^[1]
N. fallax × N. reinwardtiana^[1]
N. fallax × N. tentaculata^[1]
N. fallax × N. veitchii^[1]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Clarke, C.M. 1997. Nepenthes of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
^ Danser, B.H. 1928. The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies. Bulletin de Jardin de Botanique, Buitenzorg, Série III, 9(3–4): 249–438.
^ Jebb, M.H.P. & M.R. Cheek 1997. A Skeletal Revision of Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae). Blumea 42(1): 1–106.
^ Schlauer, J. 2006. Nepenthes fallax. Carnivorous Plant Database.