Date: Wed, 09 Aug 2000 15:36:33 PDT From: "Steve Klitzing" <starbirdcom@hotmail.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2414$foo@default> Subject: Nepenthes setting seed without pollination
(this is my hotmail address, not my regular email address, please
subscribe it)
So, how do female Nepenthes set seed without pollination? There is a
little-known member of the Nepenthes family that grows in the
wild and looks like a weed. It can be found on all continents.
It's called N. CharlieSheenenis. It usually finds the female plants
through an escort service or by going to parties. There
is also an invisible Nepenthes called N. KevinBaconii, which takes
up residence in greenhouses where there are unsuspecting female plants.
Has anybody thought that these female plants may be lying about their
virginity, and, while you growers are convinced of their virtue, they are
indeed sexually active while you are gone? Is there anyone in the
neighborhood who is secretly bringing over male Nepenthes while you are at
work? It may be a good idea to do a DNA test on the seeds to see who the
father is. This would be a good episode for Ricki Lake.
Seriously, the answer is simple. Some of the male Nepenthes pollen from
prior blooms has landed in the dust on the inside of your greenhouse.
Movement, such as a fan, or just walking, probably stirs up the dust and
pollen, and it gets airborne, and lands on the female Nepenthes flowers.
Which brings up an interesting point. The Nepenthes pollen must be very
long-lived and potent, especially in humid conditions.
---Steve Klitzing
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