Nepenthes papuana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to New Guinea. The specific epithet papuana is derived from Papua, an alternative name for the island. Botanical history Nepenthes papuana was first collected on October 7, 1909, by Lucien Sophie Albert Marie von Römer. Two plants were collected on this date on a hill below 750 m altitude, in the northern part of the Noordrivier. The species was collected again on January 5, 1913, by Cecil Boden Kloss at an elevation of 920 m, as part of the Wollaston Expedition. Four further collections were made in September, 1926, by Willem Marius Docters van Leeuwen at 250 and 300 m above sea level. Plant material belonging to N. papuana was first described in 1916 by Henry Nicholas Ridley. However, Ridley believed it represented a male plant of N. neoguineensis and did not recognise it as a new species. B. H. Danser formally described N. papuana in his seminal monograph "The Nepenthaceae of the Netherlands Indies", published in 1928. The description is based on the specimens Docters van Leeuwen 10282, Docters van Leeuwen 10340, and Docters van Leeuwen 10341. The latter two were illustrated in Danser's monograph and consist of male and female floral material, respectively. Description Nepenthes papuana is a climbing plant. The stem is cylindrical in cross section and 5 to 7 mm thick. Internodes are 2 to 5 cm long. Older plants produce short shoots and rosettes near the base of the stem. Leaves are sessile or shortly petiolate and coriaceous in texture. The lamina is lanceolate and reaches 30 cm in length and 5 cm in width. It has an acute apex and is attenuate towards the base. Usually around 4 to 6 longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib. Pinnate veins are indistinct. Tendrils are about as long as the lamina and 1 to 2 mm thick. Rosette and lower pitchers are obliquely ovate in the lower part and gradually narrowed above, reaching 7 cm in height and 2.5 cm in width. A pair of fringed wings (≤4 mm wide) run down the front of the pitcher. The pitcher mouth is oblique and slightly incurved towards the lid. The peristome is 1 to 2 mm wide and bears small teeth. The inner surface of the pitcher is glandular in the lower two-fifths to one-third. The lid or operculum is suborbicular, slightly cordate, and 1 to