Description
Nepenthes adnata is a diminutive species. The stem is cylindrical in cross section and may be climbing or drooping. It rarely exceeds 2 m in length and 3 mm in diameter. Internodes are up to 10 cm long.
Leaves are coriaceous and sessile. The lamina is lanceolate-ellipsoidal and may be up to 10 cm long and 2 cm wide. It has an adnate base and an obtuse to acute apex. Two to three longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib. Pinnate veins are not easily distinguished. Tendrils may be up to 5 cm long.
Rosette and lower pitchers are ovoid in the lower third and cylindrical above. They are small, reaching only 10 cm in height and 2.5 cm in width. A pair of fringed wings (≤3 mm wide) runs down the front of terrestrial pitchers. The glandular region covers only the lower third of the inner pitcher surface. The pitcher mouth is round and slightly oblique throughout. The cylindrical peristome is up to 2 mm wide and bears indistinct teeth. The peristome is roughly symmetrical in cross section, with the inner portion accounting for around 54% of its total cross-sectional surface length. The lid or operculum is orbicular and cordate at the base. Multicellular hairs are sometimes present on its upper surface. An unbranched spur (≤2 mm long) is inserted at the base of the lid.
Upper pitchers are ovoid in the lower quarter and cylindrical to infundibular above. In aerial pitchers, the wings are usually reduced to ribs, but sometimes bear fringe elements. In most other respects, they are similar to lower pitchers.
Nepenthes adnata has a racemose inflorescence. The peduncle is up to 8 cm long. In male plants, the rachis reaches 10 cm in length, while in female plants it rarely exceeds 7 cm. Pedicels lack bracteoles and are up to 10 mm long. Sepals are lanceolate-ovate and around 4 mm long. Fruits are up to 40 mm long.
Short brown hairs are present on the edges of the lamina. The stem and lamina bear a sparse indumentum of simple white hairs (≤2 mm long). Inflorescences are covered with short, red-brown hairs.
The pitchers of N. adnata are generally speckled with reddish-purple blotches. The peristome is usually dark purple. The inner pitcher surface is white to light green. The stem and lamina are green throughout.
Nepenthes adnata varies little across its range. Consequently, no infraspecific taxa have been described.
Read more about this topic: Nepenthes Adnata
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“I fancy it must be the quantity of animal food eaten by the English which renders their character insusceptible of civilisation. I suspect it is in their kitchens and not in their churches that their reformation must be worked, and that Missionaries of that description from [France] would avail more than those who should endeavor to tame them by precepts of religion or philosophy.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The great object in life is Sensation—to feel that we exist, even though in pain; it is this “craving void” which drives us to gaming, to battle, to travel, to intemperate but keenly felt pursuits of every description whose principal attraction is the agitation inseparable from their accomplishment.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)