| Nepenthes× harryana | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Nepenthaceae |
| Genus: | Nepenthes |
| Species: | N. × harryana |
| Binomial name | |
| Nepenthes× harryana | |
Nepenthes ×harryana (/nɪˈpɛnθiːzˌhæriˈænə/; afterHarry Veitch, head of the well known horticultural firm ofVeitch & Sons) is thenatural hybrid betweenN. edwardsiana andN. villosa.[3] Its two parent species are very closely related and soN. × harryana, which is intermediate in form, may be difficult to distinguish from either of them.
Nepenthes ×harryana was first described byFrederick William Burbidge in 1882. Burbidge wrote of it as follows:[2]
Apart from these I found an intermediate between N. villosa and N. Edwardsiana, also epiphytic onCasuarina. This is, I believe, unnamed; if so, I should like it to be called Nepenthes Harryana. Now, if a dried pitcher of N. Edwardsiana be examined, the upper four-fifths of it will be seen to be membranous, the lower part leathery and hard; in N. villosa nearly all is hard and leathery except about half-an-inch below the hardened rim of the urns; in N. Harryana about one-third is hard, and two-thirds soft or membranous below the rim. The edge of the pitcher mouths in these three kinds is quite distinct from those of all others, as shown in my sketches.
[...]
SirJoseph Hooker, inLinn. Trans., vol. xxii., suggested that N. villosa and N. Edwardsiana might be forms of the same species. This is not so, however, they are quite distinct in zone on the mountain, and in habit of growth also, and in colour. Then N. Harryana is a hybrid no doubt, which shows they have distinct sexual characters.
John Muirhead Macfarlane agreed with Burbidge's hybrid hypothesis and described the plant as such in his monograph of 1908, "Nepenthaceae".[4]B. H. Danser, in his1928 revision, wrote thatN. × harryana could be a hybrid as Macfarlane suggested or a form ofN. villosa together withN. edwardsiana. Favouring the latter interpretation, he synonymised both taxa withN. villosa.[5]
Nepenthes ×harryana can be distinguished fromN. villosa on the basis of its pitcher morphology. The pitchers of the hybrid are more cylindrical than those ofN. villosa, whereas theindumentum is more dense than that ofN. edwardsiana. The hip of the pitcher cup, which is found just below the peristome inN. villosa and in the lower quarter ofN. edwardsiana pitchers, is located around the middle ofN. ×harryana pitchers. However,N. villosa plants fromMount Tambuyukon are easier to confuse with this hybrid, as they produce pitchers that may be elongated slightly above the hip.[6]
Nepenthes ×harryana is known from a ridge above theUpper Kolopis River and from two locations along the Kinabalu summit trail;[citation needed] several specimens grow between PondokLowii and Pondok Mempening.[7]N. edwardsiana is not known to grow along the summit trail, enabling easier identification ofN. ×harryana plants.[6]
