Nepenthes veitchii

Nepenthes veitchii is an extravagant, fuzzy tropical pitcher plant from north-western Borneo and parts of Kalimantan. It grows from 4,800 feet (1,463 meters) down to sea level. As such, it spans a solid range of highland, intermediate, and lowland habitats. Adaptable! What’s more is that the plants have adapted to their surroundings by harmlessly hugging and climbing the trunks of trees as an epiphyte. This supports the heavy plant with large pitchers. Frederick William Burbidge (for whom Nepenthes burbidgeae is named – it’s a tight community) described the climbing habits of N. veitchii in The Gardeners’ Chronicle:

Now as to N. Veitchii. This is a true epiphyte. I never met with it on the ground anywhere, but in great quantity 20—100 feet high on tree trunks. Its distichous habit is unique, I fancy, and then some of the leaves actually clasp around the tree just as a man would fold his arms around it in similar circumstances. No other species of Nepenthes, so far as I know, has this habit.

Nepenthes veitchii is named for great Victorian nurseryman, James Veitch, son of John Veitch, founder of Veitch Nurseries in the early 1800’s. Veitch Nurseries introduced 1281 rare and exotic plants into cultivation by World War I.