Nepenthes maagnawensis is a recently described pitcher plant from Mount Maagnaw in the Kitanglad Range. Its name appears in two spellings in the literature because the authors issued a formal correction soon after publication. Keeping that correction visible helps readers connect the relevant sources.
Name and spelling correction
Kew accepts Nepenthes maagnawensis Lagunday & Amoroso, published in 2025 and native to Mindanao. No synonyms or accepted infraspecific children are displayed in the reviewed record.
The authors’ erratum of 28 March 2025 corrects the original epithet maagnawense to maagnawensis to comply with grammatical agreement under the nomenclatural code. These spellings refer to the same described species, not two taxa or a species and variety.
Identification
The original treatment compares it with kitanglad: the climbing stem is rounded, leaf side-veins are less conspicuous, aerial pitchers are widest in the upper third, and the lid has a triangular basal appendage. The published aerial pitchers reach 23 centimetres.
Compare equivalent stages. The widest point of a lower trap cannot substitute for the upper-pitcher character, and a photograph without the stem or lid underside leaves part of the diagnosis untested. Retaining scale and several views makes a cultivated record more useful.
Mountain habitat and assessment
The paper records upper montane shrubland at 2,300–2,700 metres on Mount Maagnaw, while its conservation paragraph gives an upper figure of 2,758 metres. The authors propose Endangered, estimating fewer than 250 mature individuals and regarding it as probably restricted to the type locality.
The two elevation statements are preserved as a source discrepancy rather than silently selecting a more precise-looking figure. Likewise, “probably restricted” is not proof that suitable neighbouring habitat has been exhaustively surveyed.
Growing guide
The high mountain record supports a cool highland cultivation hypothesis. It does not provide measured nursery tolerances, and no verified species-specific growing trial is established by the sources reviewed here.
- Identity first: Request the basis for a seller's determination and preserve any collection or nursery accession history.
- Temperature: Evaluate actual day and night conditions, especially summer peaks, against the source grower's records.
- Transition: Keep recently rooted or acclimatised material close to its successful starting conditions while assessing new growth.
- Monitoring: Date leaves and pitchers and record substantial environmental changes. A log is more informative than a single photograph after decline.
- Comparisons: Document stem shape, leaf venation, lid underside and mature aerial-pitcher proportions together.
Reading collection labels
An older label using maagnawense can be updated with the corrected spelling while retaining the original wording in its history. Such a spelling update is different from re-identifying an uncertain plant. Do not interpret the correction as evidence that a poorly documented accession has become authenticated.
Similarly, a plant from the Kitanglad Range is not automatically this species. A mountain range can contain several related taxa, and provenance and morphology must support the determination together.
Editorial record: Reviewed 2 October 2026. Original treatment and formal erratum checked; author assessment and elevation discrepancy retained. Verified photographs, owner and visual review remain pending.
