Nepenthes zygon Discovered at Kew

Nepenthes zygon

Martin Cheek, of Jebb and Cheek fame, has just announced the discovery of a new species of Nepenthes, Nepenthes zygon. It was discovered...at Kew Botanical Gardens! That's right. Nepenthes zygon was not discovered on a scientific expedition to the Philippines, but, rather, growing alongside other plants in Kew's collection.

Originally, Nepenthes zygon was labeled as Nepenthes copelandii in Kew's collection. The seed from which it was germinated was collected by an American in 1997 and donated to Kew in 2004. Now, it has been established as a new species.

It's rather unsurprising that the "newly discovered" plant is a member of the greater Nepenthes alata complex. For those of you who don't know, Jebb and Cheek made their names in the Nepenthes world by breaking apart a number of "variants" of "N. alata" into about a dozen species. Most of this was on the basis of herbarium specimens alone, although a few have been "rediscovered" as live plants.