Related Species
The closest relative of N. spathulata appears to be N. singalana. It differs from this species in having a peristome that is contracted towards the front and very wide at the sides. In addition, it has less prominent peristome ribs and shorter teeth than N. singalana. N. spathulata has an ovate lid, compared to the orbicular operculum of N. singalana. Furthermore, N. spathulata has fewer glands on the lower surface of the lid and they are concentrated near the centre.
In Jambi, the ranges of both species overlap, as the southernmost populations of N. singalana meet the northernmost populations of N. spathulata. Of particular note are plants growing on Mount Masurai, which appear intermediate in form between these two species and cannot be definitively assigned to either. These plants exhibit significant morphological variability, particularly in the development of the peristome, with some resembling N. singalana and others N. spathulata. Clarke writes that it "is possible that one taxon blends into the other in this region".
Nepenthes spathulata is also allied to N. densiflora, a fact noted by B. H. Danser in his 1940 description of the latter species. However, Jebb and Cheek considered it more likely that N. bongso, rather than N. spathulata, is a close relative of N. densiflora. Nepenthes densiflora can be distinguished from N. spathulata on the basis of its upper pitchers, which are typically infundibular rather than cylindrical. However, a number of N. densiflora plants on Mount Kemiri are known to produce unusual cylindrical aerial pitchers. Nevertheless, these plants differ from N. spathulata in producing infundibular lower pitchers.
The herbarium specimens Junghuhn 274 and Junghuhn 275, which were labelled as N. junghuhnii by John Muirhead Macfarlane, have pitchers that resemble those of N. spathulata (as well as N. bongso and N. singalana). However, the poorly known N. junghuhnii is easily distinguished from these species on the basis of its strongly petiolate leaf bases.
The upper pitchers of N. spathulata, which are ovoid in the lower part and cylindrical above, distinguish it from other related species such as N. bongso and N. ovata.
In 2001, Clarke performed a cladistic analysis of the Nepenthes species of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia using 70 morphological characteristics of each taxon. The following is part of the resultant cladogram, showing "Clade 3", which comprises N. spathulata and three other related species.
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