Nepenthes hamata /nɪˈpɛnθiːz həˈmɑːtə/ is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sulawesi, where it grows at elevations of 1400–2500 m above sea level.

Dutch botanist Pierre Joseph Eyma collected herbarium material of this species as early as 1938; this would later be used to designate a type specimen.

[3][7] In 1984, two formal descriptions of this species were published in close succession: Shigeo Kurata described it under the name N. dentata in The Gardens' Bulletin Singapore,[3] while John R. Turnbull and Anne T. Middleton called it N. hamatus in the journal Reinwardtia.

[8] The formal descriptions of N. dentata by Kurata and N. hamatus by Turnbull and Middleton were published almost concurrently, leading to uncertainty over which name held nomenclatural priority.

[12] However, in 1994 Matthew Jebb wrote that the "priority of this name over N. dentata [...] is in fact in serious doubt, since the 'preprinted' Reinwardtia issue was technically not 'freely available' in terms of the Botanical Code".

[10] While some authors referred to the species as N. dentata in the following years,[14] the name N. hamata enjoyed greater popularity and has for this reason been retained in all major monographs on the genus.

[17] The type specimen of N. hamata is J.R.Turnbull & A.T.Middleton 83121a, which was collected from the west ridge of Mount Lumut, Central Sulawesi[7] (at the coordinates 1°07′S 121°39′E / 1.117°S 121.650°E / -1.117; 121.650),[11] at an altitude of 1850–1900 m, on September 19, 1983.

[3] The specimens of this series were taken from a site on the north spur of Mount Lumut, between bivouacs II and III, on September 3, 1938.

[18] Its scarcity and striking appearance made it particularly desirable to collectors, and individual plants commanded prices of approximately US$300–400 during this time.

Beginning in 1995,[18] Ch'ien Lee oversaw a Nepenthes artificial propagation program at Malesiana Tropicals, a company based in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

[19] Seeds of N. hamata, which had been collected in the wild by Lee, were used to multiply plant material in vitro in the company's tissue culture laboratory.

By 2001, Malesiana Tropicals had a sales inventory of more than 500 individuals of the species, supplying both hobbyists and commercial growers as well as botanical gardens and researchers.

The price of N. hamata was predicted in 2001 to stabilise at roughly $50 per plant, greatly limiting the incentive for wild collection.

It comes from a mountain quite far away from the type locality of N. hamata and shows that this species has a good bit of geographical variation throughout its range.

[22] Like the type form of N. hamata, N. diabolica has been raised to flowering size in cultivation and used to make hybrids with other Nepenthes species.

[23] British geographer Stewart McPherson published an updated description of the species in his 2009 monograph, Pitcher Plants of the Old World.

[4] The laminar apex may be acute to obtuse, while the base is abruptly contracted and clasps the stem; it may be decurrent for up to 1.5 cm in some populations.

The mouth rises at the rear to form a tapered neck, which may be held upright or be inclined forward over the pitcher orifice.

The teeth are sickle-shaped (falcate) and extend approximately 7 mm into the interior, as measured from the inner edge of the peristome to the tooth apex.

The lower surface of the lid bears sparsely distributed nectar glands in the form of shortly elliptic, bordered pits.

The peristome is often even more developed in aerial traps, with longer and more widely spaced teeth, which curve completely outwards in some populations.

Most populations are predominantly glabrous, having soft orange to brown hairs only on developing pitchers, tendrils, and the underside of the midrib.

It is found in lower and upper montane mossy forest and among scrub vegetation on mountain ridges and summits.

[1] In 2009, Stewart McPherson wrote that the species is "widespread" across its range and that most populations are "remote and not generally threatened at present".

[4] Nepenthes hamata is known from at least two protected areas (Lore Lindu National Park and Morowali Nature Reserve), although the full extent of its range is unknown and it is likely to occur on a number of as yet unexplored peaks.

[4] McPherson emphasised the need to monitor populations of specific variants, particularly the red hairy form (now known as N. diabolica), because "[l]oss of diversity [...] may become a legitimate concern in the future as a result of collection pressures".

[5] In their 2001 monograph, "Nepenthaceae", Martin Cheek and Matthew Jebb also suggested a close relative in the Sumatran species N. adnata.

[4][7] In their 2001 monograph, Martin Cheek and Matthew Jebb wrote that although the available herbarium material of N. hamata (around seven collections at the time) showed wide variation in peristome development, with some specimens appearing "very close to N. tentaculata", this did not represent a continuum of intergrades between N. hamata at one extreme and N. tentaculata at the other, but rather was due to a combination of lower and upper pitchers (the latter having more highly developed peristome teeth).