Date: Sat, 20 May 2000 10:00:31 -0700 From: Ivan Snyder <bioexp@juno.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1599$foo@default> Subject: re: Fossil Site / Ancient Relatives
>Many interesting data on old
>angiosperms have been unearthed during these studies already, but
>nothing with a concrete connection to cps has turned up yet. The
>"ancient relatives of ... pitcher plants" are apparently fossil
>flowers with some similarity to those of _Sarracenia_. Details are
>not given, and nothing was (AFAIK) published in the scientific
>literature on these particular fossils.
>Anyway, I have not known about any fossil Sarraceniaceae yet, and all
>additional information would be most welcome. BTW: Carnations (also
>mentioned in the NYT article) are not native in N America nowadays,
>and it would be interesting if the researchers really discovered the
>genus _Dianthus_ or only a related one (e.g. _Silene_), which would
>of course meet the description "ancient relative".
>Kind regards
>Jan
Hi all, Ivan here,
Sarraceniaceae Ancestors?
Fossil evidence for any CP and their possible ancestors is quite rare. It
is better that we compare the different groups of CP to living relatives.
I can make an educated guess as to what these possible fossil ancestors
of Sarraceniaceae may be like. Others have suggested that this family may
be close to the greater Heath family and allies. Many species are
associated with wetlands to such an extent that some wetlands are
referred to as heaths or heathlands. A familiar member of the group is
the Craneberry. Here in California and elsewhere in North America we have
the Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora), a flower which bears a striking
resemblence to Darlingtonia's flower. It is amusing to speculate on just
how the pitchers may have come about. Studying the features of the
related nonCP can in some instances give us an idea on how the CP evolved
their traps. Theorist believe that the pitchers in the family
Sarraceniaceae simply evolved from leaves having fused edges.
Sundew Ancestors?
Some researchers have suggest that Droseraceae is kin to the family
Caryophylaceae which includes the Catchflies, genus Silene, Jan mentions
above. I have dissected the Scarlet Catchfly from here in California.
This plant has sticky glandular trichomes and does capture insects. The
plant is similar in many features when compared to Drosophylum, the most
primitive sundew, also the flower arrangement is the same. Coincidently?,
all Catchflies share the same basic chromosome count as Drosophylum, 2n =
12. I don't know if Drosophylum and Silene are in fact related, but I
would say that Silene is at least representative of a link between CP and
nonCP.
Ivan Snyder
Hermosa Beach
California
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