lost with age. Shorter hairs of up to 2 mm are sparsely distributed on laminar margins and the outer surfaces of developing pitchers. These hairs turn silvery with age. Colouration of the vegetative parts is variable. The laminae and petioles are often green throughout when produced in shaded conditions and red to purple in plants exposed to direct sunlight. Both lower and upper pitchers are predominantly green to yellow on their outer surfaces, often flecked with red to purple markings on the interior. Wholly red or purple lower pitchers have not been recorded. The peristome is often red, purple or brown in lower pitchers and orange to red in uppers. The lid is yellow to orange, sometimes tinged red. Ecology Nepenthes gantungensis is endemic to the Philippine island of Palawan. It has only been recorded from the upper slopes of Mount Gantung in Brooke's Point municipality, where it has an altitudinal distribution of 1600–1784 m above sea level. The only known population comprises several hundred individuals. The species grows terrestrially. It is most abundant above 1650 m, where it is found among stunted montane scrub vegetation on the summit and summit ridge, and forms a frequently-flowering, compact rosette. The most vigorous populations are said to grow in "sheltered scrub, amongst boulders just below the summit". Etiolated vining plants of N. gantungensis have been found above 1600 m in "shrubby montane forest". Specimens growing in such shaded conditions climb to the height of the canopy. Like its close relatives, N. gantungensis is apparently outcompeted by bamboo. It is not sympatric with other Nepenthes species and no natural hybrids involving it have been recorded. The conservation status of N. gantungensis has not been formally assessed for the IUCN Red List, but the describing authors suggested it be considered Critically Endangered based on the IUCN criteria, due to its localised distribution and small population size. The natural habitat of this species remains, for the most part, untouched by human activity, although a radio repeater tower and a small building are present near the summit. Mount Gantung lies within the Mount Mantalingajan protected area, but "large scale commercial mining operations" have nonetheless continued on a nearby summit. Related species The describing authors of N. gantungensis identified N. deaniana and N. mira as its closest relatives. All three species are only known from isolated Palawan peaks. Nepenthes gantungensis can be distinguished from both on the