Q: Heliamphora from the eastern ranges


Tepui map A: Let us start with a primer on the eastern range of Heliamphora (which I will have to expand at some point into its own FAQ page). The tepuis in the eastern range are highly fragmented, with many small unnamed mountains. The tepuis sit upon a large highland savannah called the Gran Sabana (=Great Savannah). Click on the thumbnail map to see my primitive map, based upon Givnish et al. (2000) and Wistuba et al. (2001). In that map I use one or two letter codes to indicate tepuis; see the table on this page for clarification.

Notice how inaccurate it would be to just say that Heliamphora occur in the mountains in the Gran Sabana. That doesn't convey how much the individual tepuis are separated by each other. Even a matter of a few tens of kilometers, such as separates Los Testigos from Ptari tepui, is enough to ensure that it is extremely unlike that pollination can occur between the separate mountains. Populations of plants are decoupled from each other, and evolve in separate directions. Is it any surprise there are so many different species in this small area?

Eastern species
H. chimantensis Wistuba, Carow, and Harbarth	Chimantá massif
H. elongata Nerz	Ilu tepui, Tramen tepui, Yuruani tepui (also Karaurin, Wadaka tepuis between Ilu tepui and Yuruani tepui?)
H. exappendiculata Nerz and Wistuba1	Chimantá massif, Aprada tepui
H. folliculata Wistuba, Harbarth, and Carow	Los Testigos
H. glabra Nerz, Wistuba, Hoogenstrijd	Wei tepui, eastern Roraima2
H. heterodoxa Steyerm.	Ptari tepui
H. heterodoxa (variant)3	Chimantá massif and nearby lowland sites; not Ptari tepui
H. ionasii Maguire	Valley between Ilu tepui and Tramen tepui.
H. minor Gleason	Auyán-tepui
H. nutans Bentham	Roraima, Kukenán, Wei tepui2
H. pulchella Wistuba, Carow, Harbarth, and Nerz	Chimantá massif, Araopan tepui
H. sarracenioides Carow, Wistuba, and Harbarth	??4
Tepui Acronyms
A=Auyán-tepui (2450m) Ap=Aprada tepui Ar=Araopan tepui5 C=Chimantá massif(2550m) G=Guaiquinima I=Ilu tepui K=Kukenán	L=Los Testigos6 P=Ptari tepui R=Roraima T=Tramen tepui W=Wei tepui7 Y=Yuruani tepui
1What some authors mean by H. heterodoxa var. exappendiculata Maguire. 2Also nearby, small and unnamed tepuis, and lowland sites. 3An undescribed taxon, includes all H. heterodoxa plants except those at Ptari tepui. 4Only disclosed to be a northern Gran Sabana tepui. 5I am not sure yet where Araopan tepui is (somewhere north of Chimantá). 6From west to east: Murosipan, Aparaman, Terek-Yuren, Kamarkaiwaran. 7I am not sure yet where Wei tepui is (also called Serra da Sol, apparently southeast of Roraima).

Heliamphora chimantensis--This species is interesting in that, while it flowers, it rarely makes seed. It mostly propagates vegetatively through division. Photographs of the plant in the wild frequently show great lawns of plants.

Heliamphora elongata--As its name suggests, this species bears particularly elongated pitchers. This plant dashes the rule that Heliamphora in the eastern ranges are all short and stout.

Heliamphora exappendiculata--This species does not produce a pronounced nectar spoon. Some feel that this is a sport that does not merit species status, but I have decided to adopt the name in my lists.

Heliamphora folliculata --To my eye, this is one of the most bizarre species because its pitchers are nearly completely tubular, with little basal bulge or pitcher flaring. It is a Brocchinia mimic! Furthermore, the nectar spoon has evolved into a bubble-like chamber embedded in the pitcher, giving the plant its species name. A very odd plant.

Heliamphora glabra--A plant with extremely slender pitchers that have almost no hairs on the pitcher interior. Young pitchers are banana-yellow, and age to crimson. Very nice!

Heliamphora heterodoxa --There are two forms of this plant, the less common of which is only found on Ptari tepui, but which bears the species name. The other variety, not yet given a separate name, is found throughout the rest of the range. I suspect that someone is working on publishing this new name.

Heliamphora ionasii --One of the most beautifully shaped of the species. I say this because they are shapely in a rather Angelina Jolie kind of way. Very lovely.

Heliamphora minor--True to its name, this makes small pitchers only 10-15 cm (4-6 inches) tall. This may be to protect the plant from the harsh conditions it expects on Auyán-tepui.

Heliamphora nutans--Another beautifully shapely species, although not quite as exaggerated in form as Heliamphora ionasii. Not quite Angelina Jolie, perhaps more Beyoncé Knowles.

Heliamphora pulchella--For a long time this was considered to be a hairy form of Heliamphora minor. The morphological differences merited separation of these two geographically distant species.

• H. nutans
• H. nutans
• H. minor
• H. heterodoxa

Heliamphora sarracenioides--What an interesting species to end my thumbnail profiles on! The authors of the species interpret this plant as having a huge nectar spoon that is essentially like a pitcher lid that one might see in Sarracenia. A competing viewpoint is that the nectar spoon is entirely absent, as in H. exappendiculata, and that the back of the pitcher is extended forwards in an arch. The authors of the species description chose to not disclose the plant's location. This might have been wise in that it protects the plant from poaching. On the other hand, it prevents other researchers from studying the plant so the decision has not been greeted with universal appreciation.

Page citations: Berry, P., et al. 2005; Givnish, T.J. et al. 2000; McPherson, S. 2006; Wistuba, A., et al. 2001; Wistuba, A., et al. 2002; Rice, B. 2006a; Schlauer, J. 2002.