Pitcher morphology and pitcher coloring of Nepenthes mirabilis Druce. from East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract. Handayani T, Hadiah JT. 2019. Pitcher morphology and pitcher coloring of Nepenthes mirabilis Druce. from East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 20: 2824-2832. The shape and color of Nepenthes pitchers play an important role in attracting preys. The terrestrial and aerial pitchers have different shapes in accordance with different preys they trap. This species has high potential as an ornamental plant due to the pitcher’s varied sizes, shapes and colors, which information of the wild species is inadequate. This study aimed to identify the morphological characters, size, and colors of pitcher and its parts (tendril, pitcher body, lid, peristome, wing) of N. mirabilis growing in the wild in East Kalimantan. Samples for morphological observation comprised 90 terrestrial pitchers and 90 aerial pitchers, and samples for pitcher coloring observation comprised 650 terrestrial pitchers and 650 aerial pitchers. The results showed that the shape of terrestrial pitchers were narrowly ovoid in the lower part and cylindrical toward the top. The aerial pitchers were infundibular in the lower part, narrowly ovoid in the middle then cylindrical toward the top. The highest percentage of terrestrial pitcher tendril’s color was green and the aerial pitcher tendril’s was reddish green. Most pitcher body’s color was green in the lower part and green with purple stripes in the upper part on both terrestrial and aerial pitchers (21.07% and 16.15%, respectively). The wing color of both pitchers was mostly purplish dark red which possessed the highest percentages (30.31% and 40.64%, respectively). The dominant peristome color of terrestrial pitcher was brownish dark red (26.15%), whereas that of the aerial pitcher was purplish dark red (44.19%). The lid color of both terrestrial and aerial pitchers was mostly purplish dark red (38.92% and 31.39% respectively). Bright color was mostly found on the peristome and lid. It was found on 85.38% of terrestrial pitcher’s peristome, 95.22% of terrestrial pitcher’s lid, 81.43% of aerial pitcher’s peristome, and 98.77% of aerial pitcher’s lid. The presence of green color on tendril, pitcher and its parts indicates its function in photosynthesis, whereas the presence of bright color shows its role in capturing preys.

Morphology and pitcher's color Nepenthes in Batu Lubang Sibolga Area, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia

“…That is because the number of plants found were mostly still in the form of saplings or rosette plants, which produced small and slender pitchers (Cheek 2015). In several Nepenthes types, the lower pitcher's lower circumference is generally larger than the upper circumference (Handayani & Hadiah 2019). Moreover, at least two reasons are considered strong in supporting this statement: the lower pitcher's location and function.…”

“…Therefore, the larger pitcher size can accommodate more insects (Buch et al 2015;Dančák et al 2022;Tarigan et al 2021;Wang and Zhou 2014). On the other hand, the upper pitcher size is generally smaller so that it is lighter so that if exposed to the wind, the pitcher will not fall easily (Cheek et al 2019;Handayani and Hadiah 2019). Based on the measurements of mouth length, mouth width, cap length, and cap width in N. gracilis and N. eustachya, it was found that there were variations in the size of the mouth and lid of the pitcher.…”

“…For example, the bug will crawl up the pitcher to reach the top (mouth or lid) (Gaume et al 2016). Although the mouth and lid are small, insects can still access the pitcher's upper portion (Handayani and Hadiah 2019). On the other hand, the pitcher's large mouth enables more capture because the upper pitcher is used to catch flying insects (Gaume et al 2016).…”

“…The most interesting part of the pitcher's organ is the pitcher's body. This section has different shapes, colors, and sizes for each type of Nepenthes (Handayani and Hadiah 2019;Schwallier et al 2020;Tamizi et al 2020). The pitcher's inside body is divided into two parts, namely the wax zone and the digestive zone (Wang and Zhou 2014).…”

“…hirsuta, N. hispida, N. leptochila. Nepenthes are fairly common in Sibolga, particularly in the Batu Lubang region, but nothing is known about their variety. The form and color of the pitcher can be used to identify the variety of Nepenthes, while the pigment produced by each pitcher causes the pitcher's color variance (Handayani and Hadiah 2019). The purpose of this study is to describe the size, color, and shape of the Nepenthes pitcher found in the north Sumatra province's Batu Lubang Sibolga region.…”