Rare pitcher plant blooms in Czech botanical garden

Botanists in Liberec, Czech Republic, are displaying a nearly mature Nepenthes clipeata pitcher plant, one of the rarest in the world, to the public.

Three years ago, the botanical garden acquired eight young plants measuring only six to eight centimeters. Today, these plants have grown and one male plant is now on exhibit, allowing visitors to see a species that survives with only a few individuals in the wild.

Nepenthes clipeata grows on Mount Kelam in Borneo, Indonesia, and is distinguished by its large, nearly circular leaves and unique stem attachment. Collectors previously sought the plant, reducing its population, and its reproductive success is limited because individual plants are either male or female, making natural propagation difficult. The Liberec botanical garden hopes to cultivate the plants to collect seeds and broaden the species’ genetic base.

In 2023, the garden obtained four distinct genetic lines, two male and two female, through collaboration with German growers. They also use a genetic method developed by Swiss geneticist Mathias Scharmann and expanded by Miroslav Srba of the University of Karlovy, to determine the plants’ sex from a leaf sample before they flower. If successful in pollination, the garden will have met its goal for acquiring the plants three years ago.