Nepenthes faizaliana

The climbing stem of Nepenthes faizaliana may be up to 8 mm in diameter. Internodes are cylindrical in cross section and up to 3 cm long.

The leaves alternate around the stem. They are petiolate and coriaceous in texture. The lamina is lanceolate to elliptic in shape and up to 14 cm long by 4 cm wide. It has an acute apex and an obtuse base. The petiole is canaliculate and up to 5 cm long. It is semi-amplexicaul, but lacks wings. Two longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib. Pinnate veins are indistinct. Tendrils reach 20 cm in length. Lower pitchers have not been formally described, although they are smaller and less frequently produced than their aerial counterparts. Upper pitchers are narrowly infundibular, becoming slightly wider in the upper part. They reach over 30 cm in height. In aerial pitchers, wings are usually reduced to a pair of ribs. The waxy zone of the inner surface is well developed. The pitcher mouth has an oblique insertion. The peristome is flattened, cylindrical in cross section, and up to 4 mm wide. The lid or operculum is orbicular and has a distinctive glandular crest on its underside. An unbranched spur is inserted near the base of the lid.

Nepenthes faizaliana has a racemose inflorescence. The female inflorescence of this species has not been formally described. …

Nepenthes faizaliana is endemic to the limestone peaks of Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Borneo. It typically occurs at elevations of 1,000 to 1,600 m above sea level, although it has been recorded from elevations as low as 400 m. N. faizaliana occurs both terrestrially and as an epiphyte on limestone outcrops and exposed ridge tops. It grows in close proximity to a number of other Nepenthes species, including N. stenophylla, N. tentaculata, and N. vogelii, but only one putative natural hybrid with N. veitchii has been recorded.

Although most populations of N. faizaliana are remote and inaccessible to regular visitors, the species can be easily observed along the Pinnacles Trail on Mount Api.

The type specimen of N. faizaliana, S 44163 (Lai & Jugah), was collected on November 10, 1981, on Batu Panjang in Gunung Mulu National Park. The holotype is deposited at the Sarawak Forest Department Herbarium (SAR) in Kuching, Sarawak; isotypes are held at the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K) and at the National Herbarium of the Netherlands (L) in Leiden. Nepenthes faizaliana was formally described in 1991 by J. H. Adam and C. C. Wilcock. The description was published in the botanical journal Blumea. Nepenthes faizaliana was named after Muhammad Khairul Faizal, son of describing author J. H. Adam. In 1997, Matthew Jebb and Martin Cheek reduced N. faizaliana to a heterotypic synonym of N. stenophylla in their revision of the genus. This treatment was followed by Anthea Phillipps and Anthony Lamb in their book Pitcher-Plants of Borneo. However, Charles Clarke retained N. faizaliana as a distinct species in his monograph Nepenthes of Borneo, which was published a few months after the work of Jebb and Cheek. This interpretation has been supported by subsequent authors.