| Nepenthes diabolica | |
|---|---|
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| A developing pitcher ofN. diabolica, showing its shaggy, fur-like indumentum | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Nepenthaceae |
| Genus: | Nepenthes |
| Species: | N. diabolica |
| Binomial name | |
| Nepenthes diabolica | |
| Synonyms | |
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Nepenthes diabolica is a tropicalpitcher plant known only from a single mountain inCentral Sulawesi, where it occurs atc. 2,200–2,300 mabove sea level.[5] It is characterised by an exceptionally developedperistome and conspicuous, woolly pitcherindumentum. Morphologically it is closest toN. hamata, the only other species fromSulawesi with a similarly elaborated peristome.[5]
The species was known to botanists as early as 2005, whenCh'ien Lee announced the discovery of a new form ofN. hamata with an exceptionally denseindumentum.[6] For years afterwards the taxon was informally known in cultivation asN. hamata "red hairy" or simply "red hairy hamata". Later it became known asNepenthes ronchinii, in honor of Italian botanist Luigi Ronchini, before the taxon was formally described asNepenthes diabolica in 2020.[7][5]
Thespecific epithetdiabolica isLatin for "diabolical" or "devilish" and refers to both the typical red colouration of the lower pitchers and their greatly enlarged peristome teeth.[5]
