Shigeo Kurata
With the discovery of new species and Sir Joseph Banks' original introduction of specimens to Europe in 1789, interest in "Nepenthes" grew throughout the 19th century, culminating in what has been called the "Golden Age of "Nepenthes"" in the 1880s. However, the popularity of the plants dwindled in the early 20th century, before all but disappearing by World War II. This is evidenced by the fact that no new species were described between 1940 and 1966. The revival of global interest in the cultivation and study of "Nepenthes" is credited to Japanese botanist Shigeo Kurata, whose work in the 1960s and 1970s did much to bring attention to these plants.