Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 09:40:46 -0700 From: Ivan Snyder <bioexp@juno.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2124$foo@default> Subject: re: Devil's Claw Hybrids
Ivan started:
>> While I was at the CP World Conference in San Francisco,
>> one vendor was selling different species and hybrids I had not seen
>> available before. Also I visited California Carnivors Nursery and saw
>> some other fine hybrid Devil's Claws. There must be other sources for
>> seed of these that I am unaware of.
Jan Replied:
>Hybrids? That sounds exciting, indeed (I must have overlooked them;
>TNX for your attention). Would you think there are forms that warrant
>recognition as cultivars? Martyniaceae (the whole thing, with all
>synonyms known to yours truly) will be listed in the next update to
>the cp database. BTW: _Ibicella lutea_ is already included.
Hi Jan and all,
Sorry Jan, I figured you had seen them. Guess I should have pointed them
out to you. One vendor at the conference had a table full of plants for
sale of several species and hybrid Devil's Claws. Also were displayed
some enormous dried claws. I did not know the seller, but I think his
name tag read Wang. Peter D' Amato had some fine healthy specimens on
display at California Carnivors. I remember one of the hybrids I saw was
Proboscidea parviflora X louisianica. I read in a vegetable growing book
that all Martyniaceae species ( Ibecella and Proboscia ) hybridize and
make fertile hybrids. The Cajuns and Pennsylvania Dutch have been
cultivating these as food for ~200 years. Surely there are forms worthy
of officially naming as cultivars, ...though we CPers may be reticent to
do so. I have only grown the wild species Ibecella lutea, Proboscidea
altheaefolia, and the domesticated P. parviflora. Those I recently saw
displayed looked better and more vigorous than my home-growns. Maybe
Peter can tell us more about them? HEY PETER, ...you there?
I think that's a good idea to include them in the CP Database. As I
mentioned before, they may not be truely carnivorous presently. But since
they do possess retentive sticky glands as well as defensive secretory
glands, all it will take is some bioengineering to splice the digestive
enzyme into the plant to make them so. And I do believe as you that
Devil's Claw is quite closely related to the butterworts, grafting could
prove this. I just hope the database printing in CPN is not over-crowded
by the seven species, several domesticates, and the many possible hybrids
and cultivars.
Ivan Snyder
Hermosa Beach
California
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