Q: Cephalotus: various types

• Maroon
• Purple
• Crimson
• Green
• & front view
• Side view

A: There is but one species in the genus: Cephalotus follicularis Labill. The plant does not occur over a wide range, so it is unlikely there are very many variant forms.

With that preamble, there are some forms of interest that have been identified by horticulturists and naturalists. Indeed, several cultivars have been registered. Unfortunately, it appears that many of these were short-term mutations or oddities, because they do not seem to have persisted in cultivations. (I base that statement on how many photographs of them are available on line.)

'Dudley Watts'
The peristome on the pitchers of this plant are often much bigger than normal. Looking at photos of this plant, I am only partly convinced. Sometimes it looks great, but lots of times...it looks like a regular plant.

'Eden's Black'
This cultivar has been selected because its pitchers are really, really dark. It is quite striking.

'Hummer's Giant'
A cultivar name selected to indicate plants that are much larger than normal. While supposedly there are some special lineages that have this characteristic, unfortunately the original cultivar description was written so broadly that ANY so-called giant Cephalotus would be considered this cultivar. Reports put some pitchers up to several cm long!

Page citations: Hummer, J. 2000; Rice, B.A. 2006a; personal observations.