NEPENTHES 



In 1880 Messrs. Veitch distributed and figured in the Catalogue the Bornean 

 species * Nepenthes bicalcarata, found in Borneo, by Low, Beccari, and other early 

 travellers, but not sent to England till Burbidge found it in the neighbourhood 

 of Lazas River. N. bicalcarata is peculiar in having two prominent spurs 

 projecting from below the base of the operculum over the mouth of the pitcher, 

 as the head of a snake with projecting fangs and head uplifted about to strike. 

 It is one of the most robust and vigorous of all Pitcher-plants. The N. Dyak 

 of Mr. S. Le Moore, figured in the Journal of Botany, is an immature form of 

 this species. 



In 1881 Dr. Masters described in the Gardeners' Chronicle a new species raised 

 from seed sent from Sarawak by Curtis as t Nepenthes angustifolia. Of no value 

 as a decorative plant, it was not distributed. A more important species, one of 

 the first to be known, was also introduced through Curtis, J N. madagascariensis, 

 not introduced till 1880. The name denotes the island in which it was dis- 

 covered, the extreme western limit of the Nepenthes range. It is at home 

 in fully exposed swamps, and has characters clearly distinguishing it from all 

 other species. The pitchers from 6 to 8 in. long, remarkable for the richness 

 of their coloration, rival in this the N. sanguinea of Borneo. 



The next important find was Nepenthes Rajah, a magnificent species already 

 alluded to, named in honour of Rajah Brook, whose services to its country 

 it commemorates. 



In the following year, 1883, Nepenthes Northiana, a species as wonder- 

 ful as the last named, was offered to European growers, the specific 

 name commemorating Miss North, the lady through whom it was first made 

 known. 



Plant drawings executed by Miss North in Borneo were shown to Mr. Harry 

 Veitch, and one of a curious Pitcher-plant, at that time unknown to science, 

 greatly attracted his attention. Further information was obtained regarding 

 the habitat, and Curtis, about to start on a collecting expedition to Borneo, 

 was commissioned to go in search. After long and unsuccessful effort, Curtis 

 gave up hope, under the impression that Miss North had been wrongly informed, 

 but fortunately before leaving the district it occurred to him to look over a 

 steep escarpment in the hill-side, accomplished by lying prostrate on the ground, 

 when to his great joy he discovered the long-looked-for plant some distance 

 below. 



He succeeded in gathering ripe capsules, and lost no time in transmit- 

 ting them to Chelsea, where the seed soon germinated. The pitchers of Nepenthes 

 Northiana are flask-shaped, striped and spotted with purple on a greenish ground, 

 when mature they are 1 ft. and more long, and 3 in. in width, with two 

 dentate fimbriate wings. The mouth oblique, surrounded by a broad finely 

 ribbed margin or peristome. The shape variable ; the upper pitchers swing 

 in mid-air unsupported, trumpet-shaped, whilst those on the ground are larger 

 and more distended. 



* N. Ucalcarata, Masters in Gard. Chron. 1880, vol. i. p. 200, fig. 36 ; The Garden, 

 1880, vol. xvii. p. 542. 



j- N. angustifolia, Masters in Gard. Chron. 1881, vol. xvi. p. 524. 



t N. madagascariensis^oiret, Gard. Chron. 1881, p. 685, fig. 139; Veitchs'Catlg. of PI. 

 1882, fig. p. 12. 



N. Northiana, Hook. f. in Gard. Chron. 1881, vol. ii. p. 717, fig. 144 and suppl. 



485 I i 



