Description & Care

N. rajah × (burbidgeae × edwardsiana) is a hybrid created by Borneo Exotics and first sold in 2019. If you’re a grower of highland Nepenthes, you’ll probably understand the appeal of this cross immediately. As BE put it in their auction description: “imagine N × alisputrana but with N. edwardsiana mixed in!”

Nepenthes × alisaputrana is the name given to the natural hybrid N. rajah × burbidgeae, which grows on Mount Kinabalu and was first described in 1992. It’s famous not only for its striking appearance but for its sheer size, which often rivals either parent species. Add in the toothiness of N. edwardsiana - which also grows in close proximity to N. rajah and N. burbidgeae on Mt Kinabalu - and you’ve got a winning hybrid which is likely to have existed naturally at some point in the past. That being said… the male parent in this hybrid is the Malesiana Tropicals clone which may actually be N. burbidgeae × villosa. The fact that the seed-grown release of this new cross shows such extreme variability, and that some individuals are turning out quite hirsute (hairy!) suggests to me that this is in fact N. rajah × (burbidgeae × villosa).

Anyway - this is a gorgeous plant that exhibits the best traits of its parent species. I’ve found it to be an extremely vigorous grower with huge leaves and pitchers. It tolerates my conditions year-round, from my intermediate summers to my highland conditions the rest of the year. It seems most hybrids with N. rajah as the mother inherit that species’ extensive root growth and benefit from a large pot. This plant is no exception - it’s in a 12 litre pot and already outgrowing it.