N. X leessii
purchase date: 12 / 06
arrived as a large rooted cutting
plant origin: Leilani Hapu'u Nursery
photo taken:  12 / 06

Nepenthes X leessi is a complex hybrid between N. mirabilis "Thai Gold" and N. X Mixta Superba. It was originally created by Bruce Bednar in Florida back in 1983. I got that information from the Leilani Nursery website. I'm growing this hybrid outdoors as a highlander but most other growers grow it as a lowlander. Many times I can grow complex hybrids outdoors if one of the parents involved was a highlander. From what I hear this hybrid isn't too rare and is fairly available. That's one of the reasons I'm going to experiment outdoors with this plant. I think the peristome is nice looking and worth trying to experiment with. My problem may be the amount of N. mirabilis influence in this hybrid. N. mirabilis has papery leaves and needs lots of humidity that I don't have outdoors. However my Mixtas do well for me outdoors so I may be albe to "tweak" this hybrid a bit. This winter will be the ultimate test to see how hardy this hybrid is.

Cultivation: easy grower in typical lowland conditions, experimenting outdoors in highland conditions
Market availability: rooted cuttings; available from cuttings from various collectors
Species variability: maybe some among the original seed grown plants
$ / size: moderate $25.00 and up
Cuttings: none available for trade
Sex: unknown