Hello everyone,
I just returned from a 2 weeks botanical expedition in western Cambodia. Prospections were undertaken on behalf of both Paris Herbarium (MNHN) and Phnom Penh University (RUPP) in order to finalize the long due revision of Nepenthaceae for Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The last revision had been published by French botanist Henri Lecomte almost 70 years ago so it is time we update the current knowledge about this family of plants.
The whole trip helped me quite a lot to solve some of the mysteries surrounding the Indochinese Nepenthes, a group of plants that is still not very well understood even today.
Although I was a bit disappointed not being able to explore the Cardamoms Mountains due to bad weather, I have studied during that expedition a lots of plants and not only Nepenthes. You will find below the hints at papers I will arguably publish in the foreseeable future thanks to this 2016 trip. I hope my personal agenda allows me to get everything published as planned :
-Revision of the Nepenthaceae for Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam;
-Emended descriptions of Nepenthes kampotiana and N. smilesii with studies of the neighbouring hybrids swarms;
-Conservation status of Nepenthes bokorensis 9 years after its discovery;
-Introduction to the Drosera of Cambodia (4 species);
-Checklist of the Utricularia of Cambodia (10 species).
Also, as I will keep myself involved in the Flora of Cambodia as a whole, I will also be working on a paper on some orchids we studied during that trip and another one on ant plants (Dischidia sp., Hydnophytum and Lecanopteris). It is a way for me to help improving the knowledge of the Flora of my root country.
This is arguably a lots of work that will keep me very busy for the two next years. And I don't mention other projects that are on the pipeline ! ;-)
Stay tuned! ^^
Me and Nepenthes kampotiana in Botum Sakor NP (Courtesy of Jeremy Holden)
Upper pitcher of Nepenthes kampotiana in Koh Kong Province (Photo by Jeremy Holden).