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Nepenthes

Nepenthes is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are mostly liana-forming plants of the Old World tropics, ranging from South China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines; westward to Madagascar (two species) and the Seychelles (one); southward to Australia (four) and New Caledonia (one); and northward to India (one) and Sri Lanka (one). The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines, with many endemic species. Many are plants of hot, humid, lowland areas, but the majority are tropical montane plants, receiving warm days but cool to cold, humid nights year round. A few are considered tropical alpine, with cool days and nights near freezing. The name "monkey cups" refers to the fact that monkeys were once thought to drink rainwater from the pitchers.

Description
Nepenthes species usually consist of a shallow root system and a prostrate or climbing stem, often several metres long and up to 15 m or more, and usually 1 cm or less in diameter, although this may be thicker in a few species (e.g. N. bicalcarata). From the stems arise alternate, sword-shaped leaves with entire leaf margins. An extension of the midrib (the tendril), which in some species aids in climbing, protrudes from the tip of the leaf; at the end of the tendril the pitcher forms. The pitcher starts as a small bud and gradually expands to form a globe- or tube-shaped trap.

The trap contains a fluid of the plant's own production, which may be watery or more viscous, and is used to drown the prey. This fluid contains viscoelastic biopolymers that may be crucial to the retention of insects within the traps of many species. The viscoelastic fluid in pitchers is especially effective in the retention of winged insects. The trapping efficiency of this fluid remains high, even when significantly diluted by water, as inevitably happens in wet conditions.

The lower part of the trap contains glands which absorb nutrients from captured prey. Along the upper inside part of the trap is a slick, waxy coating which makes the escape of its prey nearly impossible. Surrounding the entrance to the trap is a structure called the peristome (the "lip"), which is slippery and often quite colorful, attracting prey, but offering an unsure footing. The prey-capture effectiveness of the peristome is further enhanced in moist environments, where condensation may cause a thin water film to form on the surface of the peristome. When wet, the slippery surface of the peristome causes insects to ‘aquaplane’, or slip and fall, into the pitcher. Above the peristome is a lid (the operculum); in many species, this keeps rain from diluting the fluid within the pitcher, the underside of which may contain nectar glands which attract prey.

Nepenthes species usually produce two types of pitchers, known as leaf dimorphism. Appearing near the base of the plant are the large, lower traps, which typically sit on the ground. The upper or aerial pitchers are usually smaller, coloured differently, and possess different features from the lower pitchers. These upper pitchers usually form as the plant reaches maturity and the plant grows taller. To keep the plant steady, the upper pitchers often form a loop in the tendril, allowing it to wrap around nearby support. In some species (e.g. N. rafflesiana), different prey may be attracted by the two types of pitchers. This varied morphology also often makes identification of species difficult.

Prey usually consists of insects, but the largest species (e.g. N. rajah and N. rafflesiana) may occasionally catch small vertebrates, such as "frogs, birds, and small mammals". Records of cultivated plants trapping small birds have been made. Flowers occur in racemes or more rarely in panicles with male and female flowers on separate plants. Three species have symbiotic relationships with treeshrews, which eat the nectar produced by the plant and defecate into the pitchers, providing valuable nutrients.

Nepenthes are insect-pollinated, the primary agents being flies (including blow flies, midges, and mosquitoes), moths, wasps, and butterflies. Their smells can range from sweet to musty or fungus-like. Seed is typically produced in a four-sided capsule which may contain 50–500 wind-distributed seeds, consisting of a central embryo and two wings, one on either side (though N. pervillei differs).

The genus is cytologically diploid, with all studied species having a chromosome number of 2n=80. This high number is thought to reflect paleopolyploidy (likely 8x or 16x).

Taxonomy
About 170 species of Nepenthes are currently recognised as valid. This number is increasing, with several new species being described each year.

Etymology
The genus name Nepenthes was first published in 1737 in Carl Linnaeus's Hortus Cliffortianus. It references a passage in Homer's Odyssey, in which the potion "Nepenthes pharmakon" is given to Helen by an Egyptian queen. "Nepenthes" (νηπενθές) literally means "without grief" (νη nē = "not", πένθος penthos = "grief") and, in Greek mythology, is a drug that quells all sorrows with forgetfulness. Linnaeus explained:

"If this is not Helen's Nepenthes, it certainly will be for all botanists. What botanist would not be filled with admiration if, after a long journey, he should find this wonderful plant. In his astonishment past ills would be forgotten when beholding this admirable work of the Creator! [translated from Latin by Harry Veitch]"

The plant Linnaeus described was N. distillatoria, called bāndurā (බාඳුරා), a species from Sri Lanka.

Nepenthes was formally published as a generic name in 1753 in Linnaeus's famous Species Plantarum, which established botanical nomenclature as it exists today. Nepenthes distillatoria is the type species of the genus.

The name "monkey cups" was discussed in the May 1964 issue of National Geographic, in which Paul A. Zahl wrote:

"The carriers called them 'monkey cups,' a name I had heard elsewhere in reference to Nepenthes, but the implication that monkeys drink the pitcher fluid seemed farfetched. I later proved it true. In Sarawak, I found an orangutan that had been raised as a pet and later freed. As I approached it gingerly in the forest, I offered it a half-full pitcher. To my surprise, the ape accepted it, and with the finesse of a lady at tea, executed a delicate bottoms-up."

The plants are often called kantong semar (Semar's pocket) in Indonesia and sako ni Hudas (Judas' money bag) in the Philippines.

Evolution and phylogeny
An absence of evidence of intermediate species, fossil or living (i.e. a missing link), does not allow forming a phylogenetic timeline for the development of the distinctive traits of modern Nepenthes, which include its relatively rare strict dioecy and carnivorous pitchers. Although Nepenthes is distantly related to several modern genera, among these, even the carnivorous relatives [the sundews (Drosera), Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), waterwheel plant (Aldrovanda), and dewy pine (Drosophyllum)], all lack those traits. Among known Nepenthes, no protomodern characteristics or large variations are found, which suggests that all extant species radiated from a single close ancestor bearing all the modern traits. Phylogenetic comparisons of the chloroplast matK gene sequences between Nepenthes species and with related species support this conclusion, long genetic distance between Nepenthes and others, and abruptly diverging "pom-pom" grouping of the Nepenthes species.

Fossilized pollen of Nepenthes-like plants living on the northern Tethys Sea from 65 to 35 million years ago indicates that then-warmer Europe may have been where the proto-Nepenthes developed, and then escaped to Asia and India as Africa collided with Europe and the ensuing climate change wiped out the ancestral species in the original habitat. About 20 million years ago, Borneo, Sumatra, and Sulawesi and possibly even the Philippines were connected to mainland Asia, providing a bridge for the colonization of most sites of Nepenthes species radiation. The extensive landbridges in the area 20,000 years ago during the ice age would have provided access to the remaining sites of Nepenthes populations in Oceania. The main complication with this hypothesis is the presence of Nepenthes on the distant islands of Seychelles and Madagascar. The seeds were thought to have been transferred by seabirds and shorebirds, which rest during their migrations in swampy habitats and may have inadvertently picked up the seeds. This hypothesis is possibly reinforced by the success of the lowland swamp-dwelling N. distillatoria in colonizing so many locations.

Distribution and habitat

The genus Nepenthes is mostly found within the Malay Archipelago, with the greatest biodiversity found on Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines, especially in the Borneo montane rain forests. The full range of the genus includes Madagascar (N. madagascariensis and N. masoalensis), the Seychelles (N. pervillei), Sri Lanka (N. distillatoria), and India (N. khasiana) in the west to Australia (N. mirabilis, N. rowanae, N. parvula, and N. tenax) and New Caledonia (N. vieillardii) in the southeast. Most species are restricted to very small ranges, including some found only on individual mountains. These limited distributions and the inaccessibility of the regions often means some species go decades without being rediscovered in the wild (e.g. N. deaniana, which was rediscovered 100 years after its initial discovery). About 10 species have population distributions larger than a single island or group of smaller islands. Nepenthes mirabilis has the distinction of being the most widely distributed species in the genus, ranging from Indochina and throughout the Malay Archipelago to Australia.

Because of the nature of the habitats that Nepenthes species occupy, they are often graded as either lowland or highland species, depending on their altitude above sea level, with 1200 m the rough delineation between lowland and highland. Species growing at lower altitudes require continuously warm climates with little difference between day and night temperatures, whereas highland species thrive when they receive warm days and much cooler nights. Nepenthes lamii grows at a higher altitude than any other in the genus, up to 3520 m.

Most Nepenthes species grow in environments that provide high humidity and precipitation and moderate to high light levels. A few species, including N. ampullaria, prefer the dense, shaded forests, but most other species thrive on the margins of tree/shrub communities or clearings. Some species (e.g. N. mirabilis) have been found growing in clear-cut forest areas, roadsides, and disturbed fields. Other species have adapted to growing in savanna-like grass communities. The soils in which Nepenthes species grow are usually acidic and low in nutrients, being composed of peat, white sand, sandstone, or volcanic soils. Exceptions to these generalities include species that thrive in soils with high heavy metal content (e.g. N. rajah), on sandy beaches in the sea spray zone (e.g. N. albomarginata). Other species grow on inselbergs and as lithophytes, while others, such as N. inermis, can grow as epiphytes with no soil contact.

Ecological relationships
The most obvious interaction between Nepenthes species and their environments, including other organisms, is that of predator and prey. Nepenthes species attract their prey through active production of attractive colours, sugary nectar, and sweet scents. From this relationship, the plants primarily gain nitrogen and phosphorus to supplement their nutrient requirements for growth, given these soil nutrients are typically lacking. The most frequent prey is an abundant and diverse group of arthropods, with ants and other insects topping the menu. Other arthropods found frequently include spiders, scorpions, and centipedes, while snails and frogs are more unusual, but not unheard of. The most uncommon prey for Nepenthes species includes rats found in N. rajah. The composition of prey captured depends on many factors, including location, but can incorporate hundreds of individual insects and many different species. While many Nepenthes species are generalists in what they capture, at least one, N. albomarginata, has specialised and almost exclusively traps termites and produces nearly no nectar. Nepenthes albomarginata gains its name from the ring of white trichomes directly beneath the peristome. These trichomes—or "hairs"—are palatable to termites and will attract them to the pitcher. In the course of collecting the edible trichomes, hundreds or thousands of termites will fall into the pitcher.

Symbioses
N. bicalcarata provides space in the hollow tendrils of its upper pitchers for the carpenter ant Camponotus schmitzi to build nests. The ants take larger prey from the pitchers, which may benefit N. bicalcarata by reducing the amount of putrefaction of collected organic matter that could harm the natural community of infaunal species that aid the plant's digestion.

N. lowii has also formed a dependent relationship, but with vertebrates instead of insects. The pitchers of N. lowii provide a sugary exudate reward on the reflexed pitcher lid (operculum) and a perch for tree shrew species, which have been found eating the exudate and defecating into the pitcher. A 2009 study, which coined the term "tree shrew lavatories", determined between 57 and 100% of the plant's foliar nitrogen uptake comes from the faeces of tree shrews. Another study showed the shape and size of the pitcher orifice of N. lowii exactly match the dimensions of a typical tree shrew (Tupaia montana). A similar adaptation was found in N. macrophylla, N. rajah, N. ampullaria, and is also likely to be present in N. ephippiata.

Similarly, N. hemsleyana, which is native to Borneo, has a symbiotic partnership with Hardwicke's woolly bat. During the day, a bat may roost above the digestive fluid inside the pitcher. While a bat is inside, it may defaecate, with the plant gaining nitrogen from the droppings. Further research has discovered that the shape and design of the pitcher has evolved to be an acoustic reflector to make it easier for bats to echo-locate, and distinguishes it from other closely related species that don't make good roosts.

Infauna
Organisms that spend at least part of their lives within the pitchers of Nepenthes species are often called Nepenthes infauna. The most common infaunal species, often representing the top trophic level of the infaunal ecosystem, are many species of mosquito larvae. Other infaunal species include fly and midge larvae, spiders, mites, ants, and even a species of crab (Geosesarma malayanum). Many of these species specialise to one pitcher plant species and are found nowhere else. These specialists are called nepenthebionts. Others, often associated with but not dependent on Nepenthes species, are called nepenthophiles. Nepenthexenes, on the other hand, are rarely found in the pitchers, but will often appear when putrefaction approaches a certain threshold, attracting fly larvae that would normally not be found in the pitcher infaunal community. The complex ecological relationship between pitcher plants and infauna is not yet fully understood, but the relationship may be mutualistic: the infauna is given shelter, food, or protection, and the plant that harbours the infauna receives expedited breakdown of captured prey, increasing the rate of digestion and keeping harmful bacterial populations repressed.

Antimicrobial properties
Nepenthes digestive fluids are sterile before pitchers open and contain secondary metabolites and proteins that act as bactericides and fungicides after the pitcher opens. While the digestive fluid is being produced, the pitcher is not yet open, so there is no chance of microbial contamination. During pitcher development, at least 29 digestive proteins including proteases, chitinases, pathogenesis-related proteins and thaumatin-like proteins are produced in the pitcher fluid. In addition to breaking down prey, these can act as antimicrobial agents. When the pitchers open, the fluid is exposed to bacteria, fungal spores, insects and rain. Often pitchers have a lid that covers the trap, excepting a few (e.g. N. lowii, N. attenboroughii and N. jamban), preventing rain water from entering. The lid inhibits rainwater from diluting the digestive fluid. Once the bacteria and fungi enter the fluid, secondary metabolites are produced in addition to antimicrobial proteins. Naphthoquinones, a class of secondary metabolite, are commonly produced, and these either kill or inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria and fungi. This adaptation could have evolved since Nepenthes plants that could produce secondary metabolites and antimicrobial proteins to kill bacteria and fungi were most likely more fit. Plants that produced antimicrobial compounds could prevent loss of valuable nutrients gained from insects within the pitcher. Since Nepenthes cannot digest certain bacteria and fungi, the bactericides and fungicides allow plants to maximize nutrient uptake.

Botanical history
The earliest known record of Nepenthes dates back to the 17th century. In 1658, French colonial governor Étienne de Flacourt published a description of a pitcher plant in his seminal work Histoire de la Grande Isle de Madagascar. It reads:

"It is a plant growing about 3 feet high which carries at the end of its leaves, which are 7 inches long, a hollow flower or fruit resembling a small vase, with its own lid, a wonderful sight. There are red ones and yellow ones, the yellow being the biggest. The inhabitants of this country are reluctant to pick the flowers, saying that if somebody does pick them in passing, it will not fail to rain that day. As to that, I and all the other Frenchmen did pick them, but it did not rain. After rain these flowers are full of water, each one containing a good half-glass. [translated from French in Pitcher-Plants of Borneo]"

Flacourt called the plant Amramatico, after a local name. More than a century later, this species was formally described as N. madagascariensis.

The second species to be described was N. distillatoria, the Sri Lankan endemic. In 1677, Danish physician Thomas Bartholin made brief mention of it under the name Miranda herba, Latin for "marvellous herb". Three years later, Dutch merchant Jacob Breyne referred to this species as Bandura zingalensium, after a local name for the plant. Bandura subsequently became the most commonly used name for the tropical pitcher plants, until Linnaeus coined Nepenthes in 1737.

Nepenthes distillatoria was again described in 1683, this time by Swedish physician and naturalist Herman Niklas Grim. Grim called it Planta mirabilis destillatoria or the "miraculous distilling plant", and was the first to clearly illustrate a tropical pitcher plant. Three years later, in 1686, English naturalist John Ray quoted Grim as saying:

"The root draws up moisture from the earth which with the help of the sun's rays rises up into the plant itself and then flows down through the stems and nerves of the leaves into the natural utensil to be stored there until used for human needs. [translated from Latin in Pitcher-Plants of Borneo]"

One of the earliest illustrations of Nepenthes appears in Leonard Plukenet's Almagestum Botanicum of 1696. The plant, called Utricaria vegetabilis zeylanensium, is undoubtedly N. distillatoria.

Around the same time, German botanist Georg Eberhard Rumphius discovered two new Nepenthes species in the Malay Archipelago. Rumphius illustrated the first one, now considered synonymous with N. mirabilis, and gave it the name Cantharifera, meaning "tankard-bearer". The second, referred to as Cantharifera alba, is thought to have been N. maxima. Rumphius described the plants in his most famous work, the six-volume Herbarium Amboinense, a catalogue of the flora of Ambon Island. However, it would not be published until many years after his death.

After going blind in 1670, when the manuscript was only partially complete, Rumphius continued work on Herbarium Amboinensis with the help of clerks and artists. In 1687, with the project nearing completion, at least half of the illustrations were lost in a fire. Persevering, Rumphius and his helpers first completed the book in 1690. However, two years later, the ship carrying the manuscript to the Netherlands was attacked and sunk by the French, forcing them to start over from a copy that had fortunately been retained by Governor-General Johannes Camphuijs. The Herbarium Amboinensis finally arrived in the Netherlands in 1696. Even then, the first volume did not appear until 1741, 39 years after Rumphius's death. By this time, Linnaeus's name Nepenthes had become established.

Nepenthes distillatoria was again illustrated in Johannes Burmann's Thesaurus Zeylanicus of 1737. The drawing depicts the end of a flowering stem with pitchers. Burmann refers to the plant as Bandura zeylanica.

The next mention of tropical pitcher plants was made in 1790, when Portuguese priest João de Loureiro described Phyllamphora mirabilis, or the "marvellous urn-shaped leaf", from Vietnam. Despite living in the country for around 35 years, it seems unlikely that Loureiro observed living plants of this species, as he stated the lid is a moving part, actively opening and closing. In his most celebrated work, Flora Cochinchinensis, he writes:

"[...] (the) leaf-tip ends in a long hanging tendril, twisted spirally in the middle, from which hangs a sort of vase, oblong, pot-bellied, with a smooth lip with a projecting margin and a lid affixed to one side, which of its own nature freely opens and closes in order to receive the dew and store it. A marvellous work of the Lord! [translated from French in Pitcher-Plants of Borneo]"

Phyllamphora mirabilis was eventually transferred to the genus Nepenthes by Rafarin in 1869. As such, P. mirabilis is the basionym of this most cosmopolitan of tropical pitcher plant species.

Loureiro's description of a moving lid was repeated by Jean Louis Marie Poiret in 1797. Poiret described two of the four Nepenthes species known at the time: N. madagascariensis and N. distillatoria. He gave the former its current name and called the latter Nepente de l'Inde, or simply "Nepenthes of India", although this species is absent from the mainland. In Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's Encyclopédie Méthodique Botanique, he included the following account:

"This urn is hollow, as I have just said, usually full of soft, clear water, and then closed. It opens during the day and more than half the liquid disappears, but this loss is repaired during the night, and the next day the urn is full again and closed by its lid. This is its sustenance, and enough for more than one day because it is always about half-full at the approach of night. [translated from French in Pitcher-Plants of Borneo]"

With the discovery of new species and Sir Joseph Banks' original introduction of specimens to Europe in 1789, interest in Nepenthes grew throughout the 19th century, culminating in what has been called the "Golden Age of Nepenthes" in the 1880s. However, the popularity of the plants dwindled in the early 20th century, before all but disappearing by World War II. This is evidenced by the fact that no new species were described between 1940 and 1966. The revival of global interest in the cultivation and study of Nepenthes is credited to Japanese botanist Shigeo Kurata, whose work in the 1960s and 1970s did much to bring attention to these plants.

Cultivation

Nepenthes may be cultivated in greenhouses. Easier species include N. alata, N. ventricosa, N. khasiana, and N. sanguinea. These four species are highlanders (N. alata has both lowland and highland forms), some easy lowlander species are N. rafflesiana, N. bicalcarata, N. mirabilis, and N. hirsuta.

Highland forms are those species that grow in habitats generally higher in elevation, and thus exposed to cooler evening temperatures. Lowland forms are those species growing nearer to sea level. Both forms respond best to rainwater (but some tap water works as long as it is flushed monthly with rainwater or water low in dissolved solid and chemicals), bright light (though some species can grow in full sun), a well-drained medium, good air circulation and relatively high humidity, although easier species such as N. alata can adapt to lower humidity environments. Highland species must have night-time cooling to thrive in the long term. Chemical fertilisers are best used at low strength. Occasional feeding with frozen (thawed before use) crickets may be beneficial. Terrarium culture of smaller plants, such as N. bellii, N. × trichocarpa and N. ampullaria, is possible, but most plants will get too large over time.

Plants can be propagated by seed, cuttings, and tissue culture. Seeds are usually sown on damp chopped Sphagnum moss, or on sterile plant tissue culture media once they have been properly disinfected. The seeds generally become nonviable soon after harvesting, so seed are not usually the preferred method of propagation. A 1:1 mixture of orchid medium with moss or perlite has been used for germination and culture. Seed may take two months to germinate, and two years or more to yield mature plants. Cuttings may be rooted in damp Sphagnum moss in a plastic bag or tank with high humidity and moderate light. They can begin to root in one to two months and start to form pitchers in about six months. Tissue culture is now used commercially and helps reduce collection of wild plants, as well as making many rare species available to hobbyists at reasonable prices. Nepenthes species are considered threatened or endangered plants and all of them are listed in CITES Appendix II, with the exception of N. rajah and N. khasiana which are listed in CITES Appendix I. The CITES listing means all international trade (including in parts and derivatives) is controlled by the CITES permitting system, with wild sourced specimens of Appendix I species prohibited from commercial international trade.

Hybrids and cultivars

There are many hybrid Nepenthes and numerous named cultivars. Some of the more well-known, artificially produced hybrids and cultivars include:

 * N. × coccinea ((N. rafflesiana × N. ampullaria) × N. mirabilis)
 * N. × ventrata (N. ventricosa × N. alata)
 * N. × 'Bloody Mary' (N. ventricosa × N. ampullaria)
 * N. 'D'amato' (N. lowii × N. ventricosa)
 * N. × mixta (N. northiana × N. maxima)
 * N. 'Syurga' (N. ventricosa × N. northiana)
 * N. 'Menarik' (N. rafflesiana × N. veitchii)
 * N. 'Emmarene' (N. khasiana × N. ventricosa)
 * N. 'Judith Finn' (N. spathulata × N. veitchii)
 * N. 'Gaya' (N. khasiana × (N. ventricosa × N. maxima))

title: Nepenthes


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Baptismal font

A baptismal font is an ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of infant and adult baptism.

Aspersion and affusion fonts
The earliest western fonts are found in the Catacombs of Rome. The fonts of many western Christian denominations that practice infant baptism are designed for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). The simplest of these fonts has a pedestal with a holder for a basin of water. The materials vary greatly consisting of carved and sculpted marble, wood, or metal in different shapes. Many fonts are in octagonal shape, as a reminder of the new creation and as a connection to the Old Testament practice of circumcision, which traditionally occurs on the eighth day. Some fonts are three-sided as a reminder of the Holy Trinity to represent the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one. Fonts are often placed at or near the entrance to a church's nave to remind believers of their baptism as they enter the church to pray, since the rite of baptism served as their initiation into the Church. In Lutheran churches, the baptismal font may be located in the chancel near the altar to serve as a testament to Lutheran sacramental theology. In many churches of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, there was a special chapel or even a separate building for housing the baptismal fonts, called a baptistery. Both fonts and baptisteries were often octagonal (eight-sided), octagonal fonts becoming more common from the 13th century and the norm from the 14th century. Saint Ambrose wrote that fonts and baptisteries were octagonal "because on the eighth day, by rising, Christ loosens the bondage of death and receives the dead from their graves". Saint Augustine similarly described the eighth day as "everlasting... hallowed by the resurrection of Christ".

The quantity of water is usually small. There are some fonts where water pumps, a natural spring, or gravity keeps the water moving to mimic the moving waters of a stream. This visual and audible image communicates a "living waters" aspect of baptism. Some liturgical church bodies use consecrated holy water for the purpose of baptism, while others will use water straight out of the tap to fill the font. A special silver vessel called a ewer can be used to fill the font. Most baptismal fonts have covers to prevent water from evaporating and to protect baptismal water against contamination.

The mode of a baptism at a font is usually one of sprinkling, pouring, washing, or dipping in keeping with the Koine Greek verb βαπτίζω. Βαπτίζω can also mean "immerse", but most fonts are too small for that application. Some fonts are large enough to allow the immersion of infants, however.

Regional types
In certain regions of England, a common historic type of font design can be identified. In South East England the "Aylesbury font" can be seen in several churches in Buckinghamshire and the surrounding area. These fonts, which date from the late 12th Century around the years 1170 to 1190, are typically chalice-shaped, ornately carved around the rim with fluting below, and are considered fine examples of English Norman architecture. They are named after the font found in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Aylesbury. Other identifiable types include the Early English "table-top" font, also found in Buckinghamshire; the "Bodmin font" in Cornwall, the "Seven Sacrament fonts" in East Anglia; and "Chalice fonts" in Herefordshire. In Northern Europe, baroque font covers in the shape of a floating angel which are hung vertically from the ceiling of the choir became fashionable in the Lutheran churches of Germany, Denmark and Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries. During the baptism ceremony, they were lowered using a pulley which symbolized the angel bringing the baptismal water directly from heaven.

Immersion fonts
The earliest baptismal fonts were designed for full immersion, and were often cross-shaped, usually with three steps to represent Holy Trinity, leading down into the baptismal pool. Often such baptismal pools were located in a separate building, called a baptistery; however, this baptismal practice was then relocated to be administered near the entrance of the church, mostly nearby the main door to signify entrance to the Church. As infant baptism became more common, fonts became smaller. Denominations that believe only in baptism by full immersion tend to use the term "baptismal font" to refer to immersion tanks dedicated for that purpose; however, in the Roman Catholic tradition, a baptismal font differs from an immersion.

Full-immersion baptisms may take place in a man-made tank or pool, or a natural body of water such as a river or lake. The entire body is fully immersed, dunked, submerged or otherwise placed completely under the water. This practice symbolizes the death of the old nature, as found in Romans. In Hagia Sophia, the water was supplied to the baptismal tank from a water tower. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, baptism is always by full triple immersion, even in the case of infant baptism (aspersion or pouring is permitted only in extremis). For this reason, Eastern baptismal fonts tend to be larger than their Western counterparts and they are usually portable. Eastern Orthodox fonts are often shaped like a large chalice (significant since the Orthodox administer Holy Communion to infants after baptism), and are normally fashioned out of metal rather than stone or wood. Symbolically, Orthodox baptismal fonts represent the womb of the Church, as well as the tomb of Christ, since the baptized individual is put into the tomb/womb and is brought out born into a new life in Christ. During the baptismal service, three candles are lit on or around the baptismal font, in honour of the Holy Trinity. In many Orthodox churches, a special kind of holy water, called "Theophany Water", is consecrated on the Feast of Theophany (Epiphany). The consecration (literally, "Great Blessing") is performed twice: the first time on the eve of the feast, in a baptismal font; the second, on the day of the feast, in a natural body of water.

In the Roman Catholic Church, especially after its Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), greater attention is being given to the form of the baptismal font. Currently, the Roman Catholic Church encourages baptismal fonts that are suitable for the full immersion of an infant or child, and for at least the pouring of water over the whole body of an adult. The font should be located in a space that is visibly and physically accessible, and should preferably make provision for flowing water.

Baptisms of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are usually undertaken in a simple font located in a local meetinghouse, although they can be performed in any body of water in which the person may be completely immersed. In Latter-day Saint temples, where proxy baptisms for the dead are performed, the fonts rest on the sculptures of twelve oxen representing the twelve tribes of Israel, following the pattern of the Molten Sea in the Temple of Solomon (see 2 Chronicles 4:2-5).

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Baptismal font


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Talk:Mohave people

(Vocabulary)
If there is an interest in including some Pipa a'ha macave words and phrases, I could add some. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Desertphile  (talk • contribs) 20:59, 6 July 2003

Clean Up
When I wrote this page (a long time ago) I had a dearth of time on my hands. I note that a request to "clean up" the article and "conform to a higher standard" is noted on the page. I have the time and documents to do so, but not the inclination to do so.... at least not at the moment. What I researched over the last 15 years on the subject is not easily rendered back into reference footnotes. There are two Macave--- the Fort Mohave and the Mojave. My original entry noted this fact: where did it go? -- Desertphile, 2005May30 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.82.9.22 (talk • contribs) 03:41, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
 * How doest thou confuse me ...?
 * A dearth is a shortage, and a surfeit is an excess. I infer that User:66.82.9.22, who seems to claim to be the same person as User:Desertphile had a surplus of time at an early date, but a shortage of at least will (and perhaps time?) in 2005.
 * User:Desertphile edited what is now titled Mohave people only once in 2003, and User:66.82.9.22 only once, 4 minutes after the above; to me, neither change appears to add material that i would describe as you have described your "original entry" -- and which doesn't seem to be the first edit of the page, at 15:31, 18 June 2002 by User:63.165.128.52.
 * The accompanying article has been renamed ("moved") about a half dozen times in its history, so there may be substantial opportunity for your material to still on the page you worked on, but its name no longer to be the same as the name you recall.
 * There are probably more good reasons for removing content than good reasons for a user to believe their contribution should have been preserved, so your probably face the burden of providing much more help in clarifying the problem.
 * I think i have a relatively high tolerance for poking into edit histories, but i've lost interest in working with the vague clues you've provided. Unless you can dredge up something more specific as to exact wordings, the user name or IP address used for your edit, or an exact date (specifying UTC or time zone) from memory, i predict you question will go unanswered for another 5 years or until you develop some skills reading the edit histories yourself.
 * --Jerzy•t 07:19, 13 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Huh! There is apparently relevant material, that was masquerading as part of the move discussion, at my retrofitted heading below. --Jerzy•t 07:38, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Requested Move
Mojave people → Mohave Mohave Is the correct term, and was where this page was originally at. --Hottentot 21:01, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

 * Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one sentence explanation, then sign your vote with ~
 * The automatic timestamp placed by Vegaswikian is that for their mostly struck-thru first edit of bullet point. The earlier but not struck-thru portion is just the word "Support"; the rest was struck thru and replaced by new text before and after the struck thru portion, by User:Vegaswikian at 03:11, 22 November 2005.--Jerzy•t 07:33, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

 * Support a rename to Mohave (people). That was the way things were and there is no reason provided for making the change.   So unless somone knows Mohave to be incorrect, this change should be made.  Also, the Mojave page will need to be corrected since that was also changed. I changed what the rename should be to since Mohave has several other uses including a place name Arizona and a brand of tires.  Vegaswikian 07:20, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

 * Yes, but this is definitely the most important definition, and we can just have a Mohave (disambiguation) page for all those place names. --Hottentot 17:19, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Discussion

 * Add any additional comments

Moving back to Mojave and Mojave to dab page. If consensus is for Mojave and Mojave (people) you can do that yourselves too. Rich  Farmbrough 00:44, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

 * Move closed. --Hottentot 07:02, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

(Northern and southern Macaves)
Please note that Mohave and Mojave are both correct; when Fort Mohave was built and the Mohave reservation created, southern Macaves followed the advice of their Head Men (such as Chooksa homar and Yara tav) and relocated to the reservation. Northern Macaves resisted the reservation and are generally referred to as the Mojaves.

I am a bit ashamed of myself for having ignored this page for an entire year (to the day) without making the changed and additions I had promissed myself I would do. It has been mere laziness on my part.

--Desertphile 2006-May-30

 * Get to it. We're waiting looking forward to an improved article. Cheers, -Will Beback 21:01, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

New Update
Welp, jumping right in, here is a major expansion/rewrite, with much left to be done. I subheaded much of the Devereaux material from the SOUTHWEST MUSEUM LEAFLETS brochure, online at (which I think is desertphile's website) and while there is some content there which could (and perhaps should) be reworked and reintegrated, I'm not for its inclusion wholesale. I am of the opinion that a link to that material would be adequate. The content is largely very dated and pretty trite, again, my opinion, especially when the page prominently displays an image of a photo of a semi-nude woman. By the way, who is young Judith, when was the photo taken, and is she (or her family) game to have her image shown in this way? Not taking a prudish standpoint, more one of respect and deference. Also, noting the prior brief discussion but protracted switch, back & forth from mojave to mohave, etc., I want to ring in on that. It should be Aha Macave, according to Aha Macave elders. What's anyone think about changing at the very least, the tribal page, to reflect the correct name as the title of the page, with perhaps redirects from various misspellings? I tried to address this matter actually, in the text of the article. Duff 02:01, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Thank you for the impressive update. I had been waiting for a member of the Mohave tribe, or a historian of Aha macave, to do the actual writing instead of my piecing together the web page--- out of cultural respect. It has been three years since I suggested to Tribal Council that a Fort Mohave person do the write before someone else did, to avoid errors from a non-Mohave perspective.

 * Regarding the usage of the phrase Aha macave, as others have pointed out that is one of several names the Mojave Indians in general, and the Fort Mohave ones in particular, used: there is a much less common, but apparently more accurate, name that they called themselves by in the 1850s. I have not written that name here because in Mojave tradition, names have power and I am an enemy (i.e., I am from European invasion cultures).

 * I have been considering adding a paragraph in WikiPedia regarding slavery among the Mojave. It was common, before and after the Oatman captivity. --Desertphile (talk) 19:48, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Discussion
Peace brothers. Let the dogpile begin. -Duff 02:01, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

History vs current reality
While this is an impressively detailed article, I have to note that it seems based almost entirely on old records. Almost none of the sources are more recent than the 1960s and many are much older. So when it talks about whether they smoke or chew tobacco, this is a historical and anthropological observation many decades old, not remotely current. References to their religious beliefs are in past tense, as if none of them remain today. This is not clear in the article. The whole article reads like a historical treatise about an extinct culture. There must be more current information than these documents.

And not to put too fine a point on it, there needs to be a more WP:NPOV tone to it. The attitudes about the people embodied currently seem distinctly distilled from rather racist assumptions from the original source documents. It would also benefit from more inline citations rather than the big pile of refs at the end which make it difficult to source accurately. Cheers, Pigman ☿ 05:21, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

 * Agree with all of these points, particularly that inline citations are needed. Several of the statements seem like contentious or value judgments, and adding citations to their particular sources would do a lot to alleviate any perceived POV in the article. I've tagged it with nofootnotes accordingly. -kotra (talk) 19:22, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

 * I would cheerfully add in-line references if I knew how. I will have to ponder the Wikipedia help files on the subject. As for the complaint about the article being in a "racist" point of view, the only way to "fix" that is to delete from this article every sentence based on historical documents humanity has. Anthropology is fundamentally "racist" no matter who is writing, no matter the subject, no matter the time. As noted 4 years ago, I have asked the Pipa 'aha macave tribal council to consider adding modern commentary to this article: they have ignored my requests. The Mohaves are still very xenophobic, as they have not always been, and they tend to not want information about them to come from secondary sources and certainly not from Anglo invaders (i.e., the Hayiko).

 * The whole article ought to be destroyed and a new one written; that will probably not happen unless a Mohave or an athropologist comes along willing to do the work. For example, the name is not "Aha macave:" use here on the internet of the actual name of the people would be an insult, so I have not placed it here. Also, the public name is "Pipa 'aha macave," with the glottal stop for the word "water." A glottal stop after the h, "ah'a," would mean "cottonwood:" the letters "aha" without the glottal stop as found in the article is not a Mohave word at all. --Desertphile (talk) 02:21, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

 * This may be one of those subjects that are clearly notable yet have insufficient recent reliable sources, unfortunately. If there are modern accounts of the Mohave (or "Pipa 'aha macave"), I'd be happy to help out with a partial rewrite (I think the historical parts are fine, just the cultural parts need updating). However, a cursory glance over Google revealed hardly any new accounts (though the name "Desertphile" cropped up quite a bit). If there was a recent book or anthropological study on them lately that would be great. -kotra (talk) 07:38, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

Ariel?
The Mohave did have a wonderous appetite for ariel. They shared it when unweary guests were visiting. What is "ariel"? In our Ariel disambiguation page, the only thing that could be considered food is Dorcas Gazelle, which is only in the middle east. Dictionary.com gives a few other ariel animals: a "squirrel-like Australian marsupial", a "beautiful Brazilian toucan", and the "ariel petrel" (which I couldn't find any information on, but petrels are mostly southern hemisphere). I think maybe this line (added here) may have been vandalism. I'll remove it unless anyone knows what "ariel" is referring to? -kotra (talk) 18:51, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
 * It was added here:, by a one-edit anon on a New York ISP who gave no explanation. I'd guess vandalism. Good catch. ·:· Will Beback  ·:· 19:43, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Ok. I've removed it for now. If anyone knows what "ariel" is and the statement is legitimate, they're welcome to re-add it. -kotra (talk) 21:38, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Etymology
I just want to note that the etymology of Mohave < hamook habi is certainly older than the 1917 handbook referred to in the article. It was apparently the accepted interpretation of that name in 1886, featuring in J.P. Dunn's Massacres of the mountains of that year. Zwart (talk) 22:14, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

 * Hamok means "three" and "habi" is a bastardization of "'avii" meaning "mountain," but it also has a root element meaning "stone" and "place." So "'avii" is generally used in conjunction with a place name that is noted for rocks or boulders. Whipple (and Ives) got the name wrong on his 1854 map, though: in the Yuman, one would speak of "'Avii hamok" and not "Hamok 'avii" or "Hamok habi." For example, a mountain was named after Whipple, and its Mojave name is "'Avii Kur'utat." --Desertphile (talk) 00:15, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

(Presumed nonsense)
This was the top —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.21.79.108 (talk) 01:36, 25 January 2010 (UTC)
 * The unsigned contrib was at the bottom of the page when added, and was appropriately pushed away from the 23 April 2010 contrib that it immediately followed by a remark clearly responsive to what had preceded it. It was the IP contributor's first edit on :en:WP, and so far their last.    Oh, yeah, please start your contrib with a heading, unless you are saying something in response to the section that precedes it! --Jerzy•t 07:55, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Copyright violation
Most of the content from "Culture" through the end of the article is copied verbatim from SOUTHWEST MUSEUM LEAFLETS, Number 22, "MOHAVE ETIQUETTE" BY GEORGE DEVEREUX, published by SOUTHWEST MUSEUM HIGHLAND PARK, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90042. He footnotes his own pamphlet from his articles, but this is clearly a violation of Wikipedia policy to present this way. I am deleting the material.Parkwells (talk) 01:29, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

Slight clean up of lead
I moved a little overly specific info from the lead (about the tribe headquarters, etc) to a current status subsection. It was too specific to a particular part of the article (i.e. the semi-related details about the organization of tribes to which the Mojave belong) to be in the lead.12.11.127.253 (talk) 20:12, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

Mohave or Mojave?
Whilst both spellings appear to be acceptable, it's strange for both variations to appear throughout the article, switching back and forth depending on the section. It would make sense to settle on one to use consistently here, wouldn't it? 80.193.25.91 (talk) 22:15, 14 April 2017 (UTC)

 * (6 years later) Is this situation going to be fixed? 173.88.246.138 (talk) 01:52, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Mohave people