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Nepenthes of Mount Silam, Lahad Datu, Sabah

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Amirul Mukminin
Universiti Putra Malaysia
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 Nepenthes of Mount Silam, Lahad Datu, Sabah
Amirul Mukminin Bin Shamsul Miza
Department of Forestry Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, University Putra
Malaysia Bintulu Sarawak Campus.

Keyword: Nepenthes, Menara Kayangan, Mount Silam, Sabah, Borneo

Introduction:
Mount Silam is a place located within the Sapagaya Forest Reserve area. Mount
Silam is easily accessible by Lahad Datu-Tawau main road and its approximately 10
km from Lahad Datu town. Mount Silam’s classified as Class I Protection Forest
Reserves, and the Sapagaya covers about 698 ha areas. This place is famous in Sabah
because of the uniqueness of flora and fauna, and the Menara Kayangan has been
one of the main attractions to the visitor.

Besides the Mount Silam has become home to several species, Nepenthes.
Nepenthes has been part of symbolic to the place by the carving at baluster railing on
the Menara Kayangan base. Visitors who come to Mount Silam can watch the
Nepenthes live on the forest trail and roadside itself. The Nepenthes that live here can
easily survive because the air was comfortably chilly and occasionally misty. They
quickly grow because of Mount Silam’s ultrabasic soils are slightly acidic with high
magnesium and iron (E.K.M. Dyi & S. Dullah, 2020), which helps the plant to complete
the chlorophyll synthesis process.

From this trip, we found four types of Nepenthes and two species are endemic
to Borneo. Table 1 shows the Nepenthes species that can be discovered in Mount
Silam:

Table 1: List of Nepenthes species at Mount Silam, Lahad Datu, Sabah.

No Scientific Name Altitude (m) Range IUCN Habitat

1 Nepenthes stenophylla 520-800 Endemic to Borneo LC SV, MF

2 Nepenthes tentaculata 520-630 Borneo, Sulawesi LC RC

3 Nepenthes macrovulgaris 520-630 Endemic to Borneo LC SV, RC

Southeast Asia-
4 Nepenthes reinwardtiana 286-630 LC SV, RC
Malaysia, Indonesia.
IUCN: LC=Least Concern, Habitat: SV=Secondary Vegetation, MF=Mossy Forest, RC=Roadside Clearing
 Field Identification of Nepenthes:
c) Nepenthes macrovulgaris J.R. Turnbull &
a) Nepenthes stenophylla Mast. A.T. Middleton

Common Name: Narrow-leaved Pitcher- Common Name: Serpentine Pitcher-

Plant Plant

Description: Leaves coriaceous, petiolate Description: Terrestrial climber to 6 m

(indistinctly so in rosette leaves); Fruit
valves 18-35 mm long. Seed fusiform, 8-
18 mm long, central body tuberculate.
Ecology: Usually to be found at the mossy
forest area and secondary vegetation area
at altitude 520-630m asl in Mount Silam.
Distribution: Endemic to Borneo (Brunei,
Kalimantan, Sabah, Sarawak).
b) Nepenthes tentaculata Hook.f.
tall, but often sprawling on the ground.
Leaves chartaceous, subpetiolate; Fruits
with valves 20-25 by 3.5-4 mm. Seeds
filiform, dimensions unrecorded.
Ecology: Usually to be found at the
roadside-clearing area and secondary
vegetation area at altitude 520-630m asl in
Mount Silam.
Distribution: Asia-Tropical (Borneo,
Sulawesi)

Common Name: Fringed Pitcher-Plant d) Nepenthes reinwardtiana Miq.

Description: Leaves chartaceous, sessile, Common Name: Reinwardt’s pitcher-

those of rosettes and short stems elliptic- plant
oblong or oblanceolate-oblong, 6-11 by
1.5-2 cm, apex acute often Description: Terrestrial or epiphytic
inconspicuously peltate, base amplexicaul, shrub or climber 2-8(-20) m tall. Leaves
subperfoliate, shortly decurrent down the chartaceous, sessile; Fruits with valves 28-
stem by 0.3-0.6 cm; Seeds fusiform, 14-16 40 mm long. Seeds fusiform, 18-20 mm
by 0.7-0.8 mm. long, minutely tuberculate at the centre.

Ecology: Usually to be found at the Ecology: Usually to be found at the

roadside-clearing area, at altitude 520- roadside-clearing area and secondary
800m asl in Mount Silam. vegetation area at altitude 286-630m asl in
Mount Silam.
Distribution: Asia-Tropical (Borneo,
Sulawesi) Distribution: Asia-Tropical (Borneo,
Sulawesi)

Conclusion:
Nepenthes in Mount Silam is terrific and easy to find, the Nepenthes plant in Mount
Silam has a vast population because of the soil structure in Mount Silam slightly acidic
that helps them to survive. During our trip, across hybrid of Nepenthes can’t be seen
here yet, and this may be the factor of a place they found, the population of mature
Nepenthes, and the different flowering time. But I believe the new across hybrid will
occur one day because of the vast community of Nepenthes. I hope this Nepenthes in
Mount Silam can survive from poaching activity and can increase the population from
time to time.
Appendix:

Figure 1: Lower pitcher of Nepenthes stenophylla Figure 4: Immature pitcher of Nepenthes reinwardtiana

Figure 2: Nepenthes macrovulgaris

Figure 5: Nepenthes tentaculata

Figure 3: Nepenthes habitat (roadside-clearing)

Figure 6: Nepenthes habitat (cliff)
Figure 7: Seed Pod of Nepenthes reinwardtiana Figure 10: Huge pitcher of Nepenthes macrovulgaris

Figure 8: Nepenthes reinwardtiana Figure 11: Nepenthes habitat (cliff)

Figure 9: Nepenthes carving at baluster railing Figure 12: Baby Nepenthes everywhere
 Reference:
I. E.K.M. Dyi & S. Dullah (2020), Field soil assessment of Mount Silam and its
surrounding areas in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Mount Silam Scientific Expedition
2020, (pp. 22-30), Available from:
http://www.forest.sabah.gov.my/docs/frc/Sc.Expd/Mt%20Silam%20Scientific
%20Expedition%20Compilation%20(2020).pdf [Accessed 11th October 2020]
II. J.H. Adam (1997), Prey Spectra of Bornean Nepenthes Species (Nepenthaceae)
in Relation to their Habitat, Pertanika J, Trop. Agric. Sci. Vol.20 (23) 1997 (pp.
121-134), Available from:
http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JTAS%20Vol.%202
0%20(2&3)%20Aug.%201997/05%20JTAS%20Vol.20%20(23)%201997%20
(Pg%20121-134).pdf [Accessed 11th October 2020]
III. A. Damit (2014), A trip to Mount Trus Madi - the Nepenthes wonderland,
Carnivorous Plant Newsletter Vol. 43, 2014 (pp. 19-21), Available from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322977613_A_trip_to_Mount_Trus
_Madi_-_the_Nepenthes_wonderland [Accessed 5th October 2020]
IV. Flora Malesiana DataPortal, Nepenthes tentaculata, [Online] Available from:
http://portal.cybertaxonomy.org/flora-
malesiana/cdm_dataportal/taxon/43cd77f5-9a85-48cd-b158-14612143f479
[23th October 2020]
V. Flora Malesiana DataPortal, Nepenthes stenophylla, [Online] Available from:
http://portal.cybertaxonomy.org/flora-
malesiana/cdm_dataportal/taxon/75d3f1bc-bde0-4f21-b273-faacb40d2b1d
[23th October 2020]
VI. Flora Malesiana DataPortal, Nepenthes macrovulgaris, [Online] Available from:
http://portal.cybertaxonomy.org/flora-
malesiana/cdm_dataportal/taxon/0616451e-d272-4465-a3aa-f97fd1bdbe7b
[23th October 2020]
I. Flora Malesiana DataPortal, Nepenthes reinwardtiana, [Online] Available from:
http://portal.cybertaxonomy.org/flora-
malesiana/cdm_dataportal/taxon/31b64065-0840-4a27-ae16-52b41c286b4c
[23th October 2020]

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