XN086 Nepenthes x mastersiana

Nepenthes x mastersiana
Nepenthes x (sanguinea x khasiana)

Catalogue number: XN086

Sex: M

Light: Bright, filtered light.

Preferred temperature range: 15-30° C.
Will tolerate temperatures as low as 5° C if protected from frost.

Potting media:
* coir chip / perlite, or
* sphagnum moss peat / perlite / orchid bark

A medium sized plant that can be grown in a 140mm hanging pot.

N. x mastersiana is described in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, 10 December, 1881 (page 748-749), as follows:

Nepenthes mastersiana x, Hort. Veitch (Fig.148)

This is a hybrid raised by Mr. Court in Messrs. Veitch’s establishment between N. sanguinea as the seed-parent and N. Khasyana, the distillatoria of gardens, as the pollen-parent. It is a handsome variety, with cylindrical or slightly distended claret-red pitchers, and is quite distinct from any other form in cultivation. Leaves sessile, glabrous, coriaceous, oblong ovate acute, reddish at the margins, auriculate-amplexicaul at the base, midrib depressed above, prominent beneath. Pitcher 4½ by 1¼ inch (but these dimensions will doubtless be exceeded as the plant grows older), deep claret-red, thinly covered with appressed brownish hairs, and here and there purple-spotted, cylindric, somewhat ventricose, and slightly contracted above the middle, wings deep, sharply and irregularly toothed at the margin, mouth rounded, slightly prolonged at the back, and surrounded by a clear shining red closely ribbed margin, throat pinky-cream, coloured with red spots, lid about the size of the mouth, suborbicular, convex, with radiating venation, and with a simple spur at the base. It has the rich colour of N. sanguinea, while in form it is intermediate between its parents.

Click through on the link below to see an update with illustrations:

NEPENTHES MASTERSIANUS x

Of all the Nepenthes grown by Messrs. Veitch in their wonderful treasure-house of these plants, this is the richest in colour, almost the largest in size, while it is also a free grower, and not slack in producing pitchers. On this account we give an illustration (fig. 48) of a full-grown pitcher, and a sketch (fig. 47), showing the habit of the plant, to supplement the meagre illustration given on a former occasion, when the plant had not assumed its full proportions. Its parentage is stated to be N. sanguinea x N. Khasyana.

The Gardeners’Chronicle, 23 February 1884, page 248-249

Nepenthes sanguinea
Where found: Peninsular Malaysia and Southern Thailand.

Altitudinal distribution: 300-1800 m above sea level (lowland/intermediate/highland).

Nepenthes sanguinea was introduced to Victorian Britain around 1847 by Cornish plant hunter and botanist Thomas Lobb via the Veitch Nurseries.

Nepenthes khasiana
Where found: Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India (other populations are listed in the Wiki). N. khasiana is India’s only Nepenthes.

Altitudinal distribution: 1000m to 1500m above sea level (intermediate).

Further reading: PCR based molecular characterization of Nepenthes khasiana Hook. f.—pitcher plant