page_title: Nepenthes pitopangii
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Nepenthes pitopangii / Ecology
caption_attribution_description: English: Nepenthes pitopangii from Sulawesi
context_page_description: Nepenthes pitopangii is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Discovered in 2006, N. pitopangii was initially known from a single plant at a remote locality in Lore Lindu National Park. Efforts made in the following years to locate further populations on surrounding mountains proved unsuccessful. In March 2011, a new population of N. pitopangii consisting of around a dozen plants was discovered more than 100 km from the type locality. Nepenthes pitopangii appears to be closely related to N. glabrata, from which it differs most obviously in its upper pitcher morphology.
context_section_description: Nepenthes pitopangii is endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It is known from two localities: a single, multi-stemmed specimen grows in a remote area of Lore Lindu National Park, Central Sulawesi, and a small population has been recorded from the summit of a minor ridge in the southern part of the Minahassa Peninsula. A distance of more than 100 km separates these two sites. Nepenthes pitopangii is likely to occur elsewhere in Central Sulawesi, but small, isolated populations may prove to be the norm for this species.
  At the type locality, the single specimen of N. pitopangii is found in secondary lower montane forest at around 1800 m altitude. It grows in shady conditions amongst tall shrubs and its stems appear to flower frequently. The presence of this specimen in a previously logged forest, and in close proximity to a number of unexplored peaks and ridges, has led to suggestions that it grew from a stray seed blown from nearby habitat and that the forest's subsequent regeneration prevented further N. pitopangii plants from becoming established in the area.
  The population discovered in 2011 consists of around a dozen plants growing at 1400 m altitude in patchy, exposed, mossy montane forest, among stunted vegetation. It includes both climbing vines and young rosette plants. Nepenthes pitopangii at the new locality were found to grow in close association with moss, both as terrestrial plants and as epiphytes on branches and logs.
  Nepenthes pitopangii is sympatric with N. maxima and N. tentaculata at both sites, though the second population only grows alongside single specimens of each. No natural hybrids have been recorded at the type locality, but a putative cross with N. tentaculata was observed by Urs Zimmermann at the new site. Plants at both localities were found to harbour undetermined pupae in some of their pitchers. These pupae were only observed in lower pitchers (attached to the upper portion of the inner surface) and may belong to a leaf miner that was also apparently restricted to lower pitchers of this species.
  Despite growing in a national park, the future of the type specimen of N. pitopangii is not secure. Following his initial observations of N. pitopangii in 2007, McPherson returned to the type locality a year later to find that the plant had been reduced to just more than half of its original size by plant collectors who had taken numerous cuttings in the intervening period.
caption: A short stem bearing lower pitchers, one of numerous offshoots from the single underground rootstock at the type locality
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