Nepenthes in Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia

Charles Clarke

Hong-Kong • China

With the exception of Borneo, the island of Sumatra is home to more species of Nepenthes than anywhere else. Despite this, many species are only known from a small number of herbarium specimens and, global taxonomic treatments notwithstanding, most of them have never been studied in detail. Against this background, the Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia project was conceived in late 1997. Two and a half years and 20 field expeditions later, it is nearing completion. The obstacles encountered while writing about the Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia have been many and varied, and not all were easily overcome. Ecological information is scant and the taxonomy of several taxa is confused. A severe drought in 1997, coupled with political unrest in 1998 and 1999 threatened to delay the project indefinitely.

Fortunately, none of these problems proved insurmountable and all of the important regions for Nepenthes in Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia were visited, many of them more than once. Although the final result is the most comprehensively researched account yet published for the Nepenthes of Sumatra, it is clear that much work remains to be done, both taxonomic and ecological. Many Sumatran Nepenthes are still not adequately represented in herbaria and until more comprehensive collections can be made, there can be little progress in determining their status and relationships with other taxa. Our knowledge of these plants’ ecology lags well behind that for the Nepenthes of Borneo, and the logistical difficulties inherent in this research mean that this situation is likely to prevail for the foreseeable future. It is therefore hoped that Nepenthes of Sumatra & Peninsular Malaysia will be seen as a first, tentative step towards redressing this situation.