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Nepenthes tobaica

Nepenthes tobaica
Photo: Shawn Mayes, CC BY-SA 3.0

Nepenthes tobaica is a climbing tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra, named after Lake Toba where it is especially abundant. It is grown for its pitchers and needs humid, moist conditions with bright light.

Family
Nepenthaceae (Pitcher-plant family)
Grows as
Shrub, Climber
Light
Bright indirect
Water
Keep the soil and air consistently moist, using rainwater or distilled water.
Soil
Free-draining, low-nutrient mix such as sphagnum moss with perlite or orchid bark.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 15 °C
How easy
Moderate
Native range
N. Sumatera
Climate
wet tropical

About

Nepenthes tobaica is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra. It is particularly abundant around Lake Toba, after which it is named.

Nepenthes tobaica is closely related to N. angasanensis, N. gracilis, N. mikei, and N. reinwardtiana.

Where it grows

Nepenthes tobaica is endemic to Sumatra. Its natural range was once thought to stretch from the Gayo Lands of Aceh in the north to Tarutung in the south. Towards the end of the 20th century, new locations of this species were discovered further south. These include Mount Sorik Merapi and a unique high altitude peat swamp habitat near Lake Kerinci in Jambi. Charles Clarke cites its altitudinal range as 380 to 1,800 m above sea level, with a habitat near the port town of Sibolga constituting the lower extreme and Mount Pangulubao the upper extreme. However, according to Matthew Jebb and Martin Cheek, N. tobaica can grow at altitudes of up to 2,750 m.

Other Nepenthes plants

Nepenthes abalata · Nepenthes abgracilis · Nepenthes adnata · Nepenthes aenigma · Nepenthes alata · Nepenthes alba · Nepenthes albomarginata · Nepenthes alfredoi · Nepenthes alzapan · Flask-Shaped Pitcher-Plant · Nepenthes andamana · Nepenthes angasanensis

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Nepenthes tobaica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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