FlyTrapCare Forums

What kind of heliamphora do you think this is, and why? I was told one thing and I have some of my own ideas, but would like some expert thoughts. Thx!

Maybe a nutans? Looks to be a bit too tall for that though and I’m not very experienced with Heliamphora.

Looks like a Nutans to me too. Though I am also not too familiar with all the different species and hybrids...

Where did you buy it from? Any background info? Kind of looks like a nutans "giant" (glabra x nutans). Nice plant though!

Looks like a poster child nutans.

Nepenthes0260 wrote:Where did you buy it from? Any background info? Kind of looks like a nutans "giant" (glabra x nutans). Nice plant though!

Thanks! So this was sold to me as H. heterodoxa. I suspected since I got it that it is not, mostly based on comparing internet pictures. There are 2 reasons on the side of believing it:

• The seller is an experienced and knowledgeable CP collector.
• My understanding is that the 'heterodoxa' name is due to the great variability within the species

These are the reasons I think it's something else:

• Waist and pitcher mouth shape are more elegant than the cylindrical heterodoxa.
• The nectar spoon is much smaller than any picture of heterodoxa I could find. And I am assuming (maybe incorrectly) that nectar spoon size is purely based on genetics, not anything related to growing conditions

Comparing pictures led me to thinking it looks more like nutans or ionasi, with nutans being much more likely since it's more common in cultivation. And I have no idea how to begin to determine if it's some kind of hybrid.

So now I'm wondering which action I should take:

• Keep calling it heterodoxa
• Start calling it nutans
• Demote it to 'unknown'

It sure doesn't look like an H. heterodoxa unless it is growing in some very low light setting. As far as I know, H. heterodoxa produces much more pronounced nectar spoons and a narrower mouth, but I'm not too familiar with how much variability there is within the heterodoxa species. Though, it really does look like an H. nutans.

I like to mark certainty so I like to say H. Sp. no id aff. Nutans which means Heliamphora no id, with affinities of nutans.

Much like people say D. aff. lanata 'ffc' or similar. I myself have a N. sp. no id aff. stenophylla.

Matt wrote:It sure doesn't look like an H. heterodoxa unless it is growing in some very low light setting.

Light etc. conditions all shouldn't be too far off.

I would say that it is not a heterodoxa. Much too small of a spoon and slender pitchers. However, there is a plant distributed several years ago as "H. heterodoxa Ptari" that turned out to be a hybrid of collina x purpurascens. It occurs on the slopes of Ptari tepui and was mistaken as H. heterodoxa until recently. It appears to be much more similar in shape to your "heteorodxa", although I still don't think that's what it is. It may be a possibility, however. Who knows. It would make sense though why it was mislabeled as heterodoxa.

Like Hungry Carnivores said, I would call it a H. noid aff. nutans. Out of all the heli species, it looks the most like a nutans to me.