plants identified as N. thorelii have been the subject of some research. A 1998 article reported that naphthoquinones originating from N. thorelii showed antimalarial activity. This was followed by a paper in 2007 that studied the isozymic composition of nepenthesin in the pitcher fluid of a number of species, including one referred to N. thorelii. A plant identified as N. thorelii was also used as part of a 2012 study into the sterility and antimicrobial properties of pitcher fluid. Rediscovery In November 2009, photographs surfaced on the internet which appeared to show N. thorelii in its natural habitat in Vietnam, growing at 0–200 m above sea level. In February 2010, Charles Clarke and François Mey travelled to the site where the photographs had been taken, as well as to the type location, but were unable to find any remaining plants of this species. Nepenthes thorelii was rediscovered within a military zone in Tây Ninh Province, Vietnam, in August 2011. The so-called Sữa Đá population was found by a team including François Mey, Alastair Robinson and Luu Hong Truong, curator of the VNM Herbarium in Ho Chi Minh City, and was estimated to number fewer than 100 individuals. The discovery was announced online by Alastair Robinson on August 6, 2011: As of today, Nepenthes thorelii has officially been relocated in Vietnam, within Tay Ninh province, its type locality [...] the specimens studied in situ at the so-called Sữa Đá (Sua Da) site fall neatly into the description made by Lecomte in 1909, and match the specimens at the Paris herbarium perfectly. This is therefore the first time that the species has been formally identified and collected [...] by qualified botanists in one hundred and two years. Given the recent elimination of potential communities of this taxon by poachers, details of the site will not be made public for the foreseeable future, a decision made in concert with the Institute of Tropical Biology in Ho Chi Minh -- with whom we conducted the expedition -- in order to protect this critically endangered taxon. Description Nepenthes thorelii is a shrub with an erect stem having a smooth circular cross section and a tapering form. The stem reaches 40 cm in height and is 4 to 8 mm in diameter. The species has a well-developed perennial rootstock that produces shoots every wet season. The rootstock is irregularly branched and measures up to 2 cm