Nepenthes kampotiana — Vorstman's Guide to the Carnivorous Plants

Identification

A plant with leathery, shortly stalked, linear to lanceolate leaves and long tendrils. Lower pitchers are ovate in the lower third and narrow upward; upper pitchers are cylindrical with a swollen base, or obovate. The peristome is narrow and usually unstriped; the lid is round with a heart-shaped base and not vaulted. Apart from the leaf axils, tendrils and pitchers the plant is hairless, and the flowers stand singly on their own stalks in the inflorescence. Precise measurements were not available to this guide from a verifiable source; the measurement fields are therefore left empty.

Similar species

Within the thorelii group the species look much alike and their delimitation is disputed: the German pitcher-plant specialist Jan Schlauer even treats kampotiana as a synonym of Nepenthes smilesii. According to Mey, smilesii differs by hairs over the whole plant and short tendrils. Nepenthes chang, from the same border region, is the closest relative; it has two-flowered partial peduncles in the inflorescence, a hairy staminal column, thinner leaves (about 0.2 rather than 0.5 mm) and tubular upper pitchers. Nepenthes bokorensis has broader leaves, hairs, and more robust, more colourful pitchers with a vaulted lid and a striped peristome. The common Nepenthes mirabilis has distinctly stalked, papery leaves.

The trap and how it works

A pitfall trap as in every pitcher plant, with two pitcher forms: squat lower pitchers, ovate below, that stand on the ground and catch crawling animals, and cylindrical upper pitchers with a bulbous base on long tendrils. The narrow peristome and the nectar glands under the lid lure insects to the rim. What is special in this group is the seasonal rhythm: in the dry season, when the savanna withers and often burns, few or no pitchers are formed. The plant is then barely recognisable as a pitcher plant. No specific study of this species' prey was found.

Habitat and ecology

Open savannas and grasslands that flood in the rainy season and dry out in the dry season (W5, W6, D4). The plant is a pyrophyte: it survives fires because its underground, fleshy rootstock stores water and reserves, and it resprouts once the rains begin. According to the English Wikipedia it grows from sea level to about 600 m; since that figure was not confirmed in the specialist literature consulted here, the elevation field is left empty.

Distribution and elevation

The original material comes from Kampot Province in southern Cambodia; recent certain records come from Trat Province in Thailand, close to the Cambodian border. Other sources also cite eastern Thailand and the southern coastal region of Vietnam. Our own list names Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand; the Vietnamese part is not confirmed in the literature used by Mey, and in Cambodia the species has not been seen with certainty since 1909.

Recorded (one-degree cells)

Distribution based solely on records at GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility), not on TDWG regions — those are often far larger than the actual range. The light halo is the area around a record, the dark core the record itself. The darker cells are 3 one-degree squares — roughly a hundred and ten kilometres — in which the species has been recorded, from all GBIF records. This is coarser than for most species because hardly any record of this plant carries an accurate coordinate: the locality of poached species is obscured at source. At this scale that obscuring disappears into the noise. The cells show where it has been seen, not where it occurs: an empty square means nothing.

Forms and variation

No varieties are recognised. Nepenthes geoffrayi, also described by Lecomte, is regarded as a synonym. In the wild, hybrids have been reported with Nepenthes bokorensis and with Nepenthes mirabilis. Because of the disputed delimitation within the thorelii group, material treated in the literature as kampotiana may fall under smilesii for other authors.

Where and when to see it

Anyone wanting to see the species should search the wet savannas of Trat Province in Thailand, in the rainy season or shortly after, when the plants are in full pitcher. In Cambodia a confirmed record around Kampot would be real news: Mey explicitly called for the species to be rediscovered there so that a conservation programme could be set up. On open grassy flats, look for low rosettes of narrow leathery leaves with small pitchers at their base. Share finds with Cambodian conservationists.

Conservation status

The Red List assesses the species as Least Concern. That verdict covers the whole range; for Cambodia, Mey wrote in 2010 that the species may already have vanished there. Wet savannas in the lowlands of Indochina are being converted to rice fields, plantations and settlements, and changes in fire regime can both help and harm pyrophytes. As a member of Nepenthes it is listed in CITES Appendix II, so international trade in wild plants requires a permit.

Scientific name

Nepenthes kampotiana | Lecomte, 1909

Nepenthes kampotiana was described in 1909 by Paul Henri Lecomte. The area near the city of Kampot, Cambodia, where the original specimens of this species were collected. The specific epithet refers to the Cambodian city of Kampot, close to which the first specimens of this species were collected.

World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), via Plants of the World Online (POWO), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.