PITCHER PLANTS RECORDED FROM BRIS FOREST IN JAMBU BONGKOK,KUALA TRENGGANU,MALAYSIA

A dichotomous key and descriptions of the species of pitcher plants recorded from bris forest at Jambu Bongkok is given.Three species of pitcher plants were recognized from the study area.They are Nepenthes rafflesiana,Nepenthes gracilis and Nepenthes mirabilis.These species can easily be identified by their morphological differences.Nepenthes gracilis differed from the other two species in having triangular stem,sessile leaves,winged leaf base,under lid surface of the pitcher sparsely covered with honey glands,inner pitcher cavity wall covered exposed digestive glands and very narrow peristome with the thickness of≤1 cm.On the other hand,Nepenthes rafflesiana and Nepenthes mirabilis have cylindrical stem,stalked leaves,semi-amplexicaul leaf base,under lid surface densely covered with honey glands,inner pitcher cavity wall covered with overarched digestive glands and broad peristome with a thickness of≥1 cm.Nepenthes rafflesiana can be differentiated from Nepenthes mirabilis by its infundibulate upper pitcher,ellipsoidal lower pitcher,inner pitcher wall cavity wholly covered with digestive glands whereas Nepenthes mirabilis have tublose-ventricose upper and lower pitchers,inner pitcher cavity wall of both pitchers partly covered with digestive glands.