Nepenthes lingulata

Asian Pitcher plant species: Barisan Mountains, Sumatra, Indonesia

Altitude: 1700-2100 meters above sea level (~5580-6890 feet)

Nepenthes lingulata is a recently discovered species found for the first time in 2004 and described in 2006. It is most closely related to Nepenthes izumiae, but the namesake tongue makes them easy to tell apart. Up until very recently this species was extremely rare in cultivation and was dubbed the $1000 nepenthes online. Now Borneo Exotics has it in tissue culture so the pricing should come down with time. Exotica plants from Australia recently released a batch of seed-grown lingulata and that is what I am growing. So far it has shown an extreme disdain for root disturbance. After the  plant was transplanted it took a very long time to do anything at all. Once it was acclimated to its new pot it has been very simple to care for and pitchers with every new leaf. Ryan Georgia of Native Exotics mentioned that lingulata likes to lives in live sphagnum hummocks in the wild and so heavy pure sphagnum mix with very little other material seems ideal for this species. I have kept this species under minimal climate control with some added humidity but no nightly cooling. Later on when the pricing comes down I will experiment more with this species. Right now I would say it is medium care leaning towards easy.

Nepenthes lingulata Care Notes:

• The pitchers have a dense indumentum (furry pelt) on them which is almost looks like the coat of a gorilla.
•  The “tongue that hangs down from the lid is unique in the genus.
• Pricing currently is fairly expensive with medium to small plants going for $80 and up.
• The color is also very extreme for the genus with a very metallic black color.
• Pitchers are suspended from the leaf and will form without any support.
• Pitcher to leaf ratio is very nice on this species forming a compact rosette with multiple dark black pitchers.

You can find more info at the Nepenthes lingulata wiki.

If you want to learn more about cultivation of carnivorous plants, I highly recommend the comprehensive grow guide The Savage Garden, Revised: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants by Peter D,Amato. It is very easy to follow and reference and contains pictures and cultivation techniques for every genus of carnivorous plants.

If you want to learn more about Nepenthes  or other pitcher plants, and see pictures of these spectacular species in the wild, I highly recommend reading Pitcher Plants of the Old World Volume One and Pitcher Plants of the Old World Volume Two
by Stewart McPherson it is over 1000 pages about nepenthes and cephalotus.