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Rhizanthes lowii
Rhizanthes lowii is a species of parasitic flowering plant without leaves, stems, roots, or photosynthetic tissue. They grow on roots of the Tetrastigma vine. They are only found in the tropical forests of Borneo. With the largest flowers in Rhizanthes, the flowers are from 25 to 43 cm across. They are endothermic, not only producing their own heat, but they also have the rare ability to regulate their own temperature.
From the article Rhizanthes lowii on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
It was first collected on a little islet (in a river?) near the Malaysian town of Limbang, almost at the border of Brunei. Originally, the species was believed to be present in the tropical forests of Borneo, Sumatra, southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia, but after the 2000 revision of the genus Rhizanthes, the specimens collected in Sumatra, Thailand and Malaysia were reinterpreted as two new, different species, on the basis of groups of morphological traits: Rh. deceptor and Rh. infanticida. Thus the species as it is now circumscribed as of 2000 is endemic to Borneo, where it was originally described from. Despite this, the Plants of the World Online database for some reason states the distribution is restricted to Peninsular Malaysia. It has also been seen as a synonym of Rh. zippelii by some authors, although this interpretation was not followed by most authorities. It is extremely difficult, if not always possible in some cases, to tell the four different species in Rhizanthes apart on the basis of morphology. Even more confusingly, plants of Rh. zippelii have also been identified (and photographed) from western Borneo, with the taxonomic changes, they can now be classified as Rh. lowii, despite looking like Rh. zippelii.
== References ==
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Rhizanthes lowii in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 337597.