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| Nepenthes (((King Tiger x rafflesiana) x alata) x thorelli/smilesii) x campanulata |
About a month ago, I received an interesting Nepenthes campanulata hybrid from
Root66 Nursery. This seed grown plant, above, was reputed to be Nepenthes (((King Tiger x rafflesiana) x alata) x thorelli/smilesii) x campanulata. Whew! That's quite a complex hybrid. I did some digging, and it is a very close match to
Nepenthes thorelii x campanulata.
As I was doing research into the provenance of this seed-grown plant, I wondered "what the heck is Nepenthes King Tiger?" I turned to the
CP Photofinder, which claims that it is Nepenthes thorelli, but then I found this
wonderful blog/webpage from someone actually in Thailand who talks about Nepenthes Tiger. Apparently, Nepenthes Tiger is just a description by Thai Nepenthes enthusiasts for any lowland plant (or hybrid) that has "long lanceolate leaves" and "pitchers with longitudinal red streaks on the outer surface and red dots or small patches on the inner side."
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| Nepenthes Tiger |
So, basically, Nepenthes Tiger is any of the following: N. andamana, N. kampotiana, N. kerrii, N. kongkandana, N. smilesii, N. suratensis, and N. thorelii. Better yet, my limited Thai reading ability (Thanks, Google Translate!) resulted in me finding out that the people there don't really see a difference between these species/natural hybrids. They are all said to have no difference. Some, however,
did enter cultivation with certain epithets added to "Tiger," such as "Giant Tiger", etc., and usually referencing the size of the pitchers, but these did not always translate in the same way, and, more importantly, many have fallen out of common currency. So, the best I can say is that "King Tiger" means a plant with large red pitchers and red spots inside the pitchers from the thorelli complex.
Whatever my plant's provenance may be, I do like that it has the characteristically wide mouth of
Nepenthes campanulata and great internal and external coloration. I can't wait to see what the more mature pitchers look like when they begin to develop.
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