Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 10:55:25 +0000 From: schlauer@chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2293$foo@default> Subject: re: Utricularia Hybrids
Dear Fernando,
> I was really shocked to
> learn he'd been successful at crossing these two species, considering
> they're not even from the same subgenus.
They are from the very same subgenus, only from different (yet very
closely related) sections. It is not surprising at all that different
_Utricularia_ species (even belonging to different sections) can be
hybridized, since _Utricularia_ is with fair confidence the youngest
genus of Lentibulariaceae, and in _Pinguicula_ (the oldest genus
in this family) species even belonging to different subgenera (as
different as _P. agnata_ and _P. zecheri_) can be hybridized to
produce viable offspring. The apparent fact that this does not happen
frequently in nature is probably attributable to the specialized
flowers quite effectively preventing cross-pollination between
species.
> Man is it frustrating to see this beautiful pair (Vriesia &
> U.nelumbifolia) popping up around the city, knowing where they came from and
> how they got there! It's sickening to know that not much can be done about
> it unfortunately. And in a way it hurts to see this amazing Utricularia
> "vulgarly" growing as a weed in the middle of a 16-million person
> metropolis!!!
Do the bromeliads (and especially the bladderworts) survive in the
megalopolis? If so, you could at least comfort yourself with the
thought that new secondary locations have been created for these
plants, at least partially reversing the general trend of
anthropogenic habitat destruction.
Kind regards
Jan
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:35:10 PST