The orange hair on the bottom Nepenthes pongoides the leaves are why the pitcher plant was named after the orangutan
Alviana Damit
A newly described species of pitcher plant, one of the largest and hairiest pitcher plants ever found, has been identified in a wild mountain in Borneo, Malaysia.
the underside of the leaves of Nepenthes pongoides they are covered in thick, rust-colored fur, and the team that discovered the plant in May 2023 named it after the native Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) that share the Meliau Range in central Sabah.
“Actually, it’s not as hairy as an orangutan, it’s more like a hairy-chested man,” he says. Alastair Robinson Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. “But the color is almost identical to orangutan fur.”
He suggests that the plants are the common name of orangutan pitcher plants. Robinson and his colleagues found just 39 plants in two expeditions, and it is highly vulnerable to extinction if collectors do not protect it from hunting.
Robinson says that even before arriving at the site, there was evidence that poachers had entered the area and stolen specimens as the plants were put up for sale online.
Nepenthes It is a genus of carnivorous plants found in the tropics of Southeast Asia and some parts of the Pacific, which includes more than 160 species. Black market horticultural crops are highly sought after because their leaves make impressive water containers. In the wild, animals fall into these pitchers and suffocate before being consumed by the digestive enzymes produced by the plants.
Robinson says the mountain is “basically a pile of rocks,” so there’s no running water above 300 feet, which means pitcher plants are the only source of water for local wildlife.
Jugs can reach 45 centimeters in length and hold more than 2 liters of water. “They’re like a little ecosystem,” says Robinson.
The new species was first photographed in 2004, but was misidentified as a popular variety. “I have been studying Nepenthes Borneo for years and this species is the furriest I have ever encountered,” says the team member. Alviana Damit At the Forest Research Center in Sandakan, Malaysia. “Naming the orangutan is the perfect tribute.”
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