Pinguicula casabitoana

Pinguicula casabitoana

About a month ago, Lechenaultia re-shared Paul Temple's trip to find Pingiucula casabitoana. This little photographed species is endemic to a single ridge on Mount Casabito, making it one of the rarest carnivorous plants in the world. (Paul Temple's report indicates that it actually grows on only a few trees).

Paul's picture of Pinguicula casabitoana

The ridge on which P. casabitoana grows is part of a cloud forest, which, as I explained in my post about Nepenthes hamata, means that it is very humid - and most of the water obtained by plants come from the constant "cloud" rather than rainwater. Paul's discussion of P. casabitoana seems to indicate that this is the case for that species.

Pinguicula casabitoana

Although P. casabitoana can be found growing in moss, it favors bare wood and probably cannot survive long-term in moss. Unlike most Pings, its roots grow normally, then wither to become thin and wiry, with suction-cup type structures that allow it to cling to the wood of a tree. (In some ways, this makes P. casabitoana more like an orchid than most carnivores).

Pinguicula casabitoana

Paul's report indicates that P. casabitoana is a pioneer species, establishing itself in inhospitable environments (tree branches) before being displayed by slower species (mosses). Although rain is frequent in the cloud forest, the branches are almost always dry due to the fact that the water runs down the branches and the prevailing winds and heat dry whatever is left of the moisture from them, meaning the plant must absorb all its water needs through the humid air touching its leaves, rather than through its roots.

After reading Paul's report, and thinking about the Cuban Pinguicula that I've written about before, I think that it would be interesting to try one of these epiphytic Pings in a humid, Nepenthes environment. I imagine a piece of tree branch - preferably from a tropical tree - with a little notch in it to settle the plant in would be a good medium. This could then be hung on the wall of a terrarium or humid greenhouse. I'm not sure if this would work, but it would definitely be something to try.

[Edit: On 1/6/2016, the famed Paul Temple himself contacted me to let me know the following -

"The species does not occur on a single ridge (on Casabito). There are 3 locations on Casabito, though all within short walking distance of each other. However, there are 8 known locations in all, distributed over 4 mountains that include Casabito. The mountains are all within the same mountain range, the Central Cordillera. Local topography and the nature of the plant life (rainforest, largely impenetrable without a machete) makes it possible (likely?) there are as yet undiscovered locations. Hope this is of interest. Cheers."

Thanks, Paul!]