Re: _Nepenthes_madagascariensis_

Jan Schlauer (zxmsl01@studserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de)
Mon, 21 Mar 1994 16:30:40 +0100

Andreas, seems like I should support you a bit:

1. _Nepenthes_ (especially _N.madagascariensis_) is quite certainly much
older than _Homo_.

2. As Andreas mentioned already, the Indonesians had not only to introduce
_N.madagascariensis_ but also to breed _N.masoalensis_, and all this had to
be performed in very natural habitats (for _Nepenthes_, *not* for the
Indonesians).

3. Furthermore, and this was much more of a hard job, they had to create as
their masterpiece the very aberrant _N.pervillei_, which is undoubtedly
closely related to the two aforementioned species, and plant (and
establish!) it on the Seychelles (I would rather have it in my backyard
than "so far away from me"). And the next closest member of this genus,
_N.distillatoria_ is confined to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), even further away.

4. Additionally, the Ancistrocladaceae, a family with apparent biochemical/
morphological affinities to Nepenthaceae does occupy much the same general
range but it extends also into continental Africa. Interestingly, the
family closest to Ancistrocladaceae (viz. Dioncophyllaceae !!!) is confined
to western tropical Africa.

You see, either the Indonesians were the unknown masters of plant breeding
during the past thousands of years through half of the world or it is
somewhat unlikely that _Nepenthes_ came with them.

Next theory, please!

Kind regards
Jan