Nepenthes Longifolia - Ecology

Ecology

Nepenthes longifolia occurs in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra and may also be present in North Sumatra. It grows terrestrially in dense, shady lowland or submontane forest on steep sandstone slopes and ridges. As a result of developing against such inclined surfaces, the leaves of rosette plants often assume an almost vertical orientation. The species has an altitudinal distribution of 300 to 1100 m above sea level.

Around the river Tjampo in West Sumatra, N. longifolia is sympatric with N. adnata, N. albomarginata, N. ampullaria, N. eustachya, N. gracilis, and N. reinwardtiana. However, the species is only known to hybridise with N. eustachya. On Mount Tjampo itself, N. longifolia grows in a number of isolated patches and is sympatric with N. albomarginata, N. eustachya, and N. reinwardtiana.

Plants resembling the type of N. longifolia are abundant along the road from Sibolga to Tarutung in North Sumatra. They differ from those of West Sumatra in a number of morphological features and may represent the poorly known N. beccariana. This taxon is sympatric with N. ampullaria, N. gracilis, N. rafflesiana, N. reinwardtiana, and N. tobaica.

Nepenthes longifolia is not listed on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as the list follows Jebb and Cheek in treating N. longifolia in synonymy with N. sumatrana. The combined conservation status for both taxa is listed as Least Concern. However, recent studies have shown that these two taxa are distinct species. In 2001, Charles Clarke suggested a revised status of Vulnerable for N. longifolia based on the IUCN criteria. The habitat of this species may be threatened in the near future by fires deliberately started to clear forest for agricultural purposes.