photo as the plant arrived 10/03

photo taken 7 / 04

Nepenthes gracillima seems to be very closely related to N. ramispina. I've read literature that claims they are the same species and other literature that says they are totally different. In Clarke's book Nepenthes of Sumatra he contends that N. ramispina is more widespread whereas N. gracillima is reduced to a few mountain ranges in Tahan and Timur. Also the upper pitchers differ between the two species. N. gracillima has ivory / white pink blotches on or in the inner surfaces. N. ramispina is green with black blotches. They definitely look like two different species to me from the photos in the book. Right now my plants are still in the rosette stage and producing small pitchers that do look a lot like N. ramispina. I haven't seen N. gracillima readily available. The only outlet seems to be The Nepenthes Nursery in Germany and possibly Borneo Exotics. The Nepenthes Nursery is beginning to offer size 3 plants that are 12 months ex-vitro in some cases. So far they seem to be slower growing than N. ramispina. My biggest plant is just beginning to go into the small vining stage however they are few years away from getting some size to them. This species has been around for some time but I've never seen rooted cuttings or larger plants available for some reason.

Cultivation: easy, slow to moderate grower in outdoor conditions, tolerates full sun
Market availability: size 2-3; limited; only seen it available from The Nepenthes Nursery
Species variability: none that I'm aware of, but closely related to N. ramispina
$ / size: moderate; $20.00 and up (for small tissue culture plants at this time)
Cuttings: none available for trade
Sex: unknown