Nepenthes Longifolia - Natural Hybrids

Natural Hybrids

Despite occurring sympatrically with a number of other Nepenthes species, N. longifolia appears to hybridise very rarely; only one natural cross with N. eustachya is known with confidence, although it may also hybridise with N. sumatrana.

Nepenthes eustachya × N. longifolia has been recorded from a number of locations near Payakumbuh and Sibolga, where its parent species are sympatric. It is relatively rare because N. eustachya and N. longifolia occur in markedly different habitats; the former usually grows in exposed, sunny sites, while the latter is more common in dense, shady forest. This hybrid differs from N. eustachya in having fringed lamina margins bearing short reddish-brown hairs. The peristome often has a distinctive raised section at the front, a characteristic inherited from N. longifolia. It can be distinguished from N. longifolia on the basis of its shorter tendrils and the presence of longitudinal furrows on the surface of the lamina, similar to those of N. eustachya.