Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 17:48:19 +0100 From: Phil Wilson <cp@pwilson.demon.co.uk> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2678$foo@default> Subject: Re: Sarracenia flowering
>I can understand that they won't successfully set seed in the autumn, but
>why won't they open? Is it too cold in September? My Sarracenia purpurea
>venosa regularly flowers in late summer as well as in the spring. The
>summer/autumn flowers are just as beautiful as the spring flowers, and it
>doesn't seem to harm the plant.
>
I find that the occasional autumn/fall Sarracenia flowers that occur
usually do not develop properly. I say usually because this is not the
case 100% of the time. At the moment I have an S. alata in full bloom
and S. purpurea with a developing flower bud. Normally though the
flowers are stunted and do not open properly. Its usually the case that
malformed flowers do not set seed. I'll try pollinating the S. alata
flower to see if I get seed, though with the number of bugs in the
greenhouse at the moment I probably won't need to pollinate by hand.
Interestingly I used to think that autumn flowering was a phenomenon
only encountered in cultivation. In fact it regularly occurs in wild
populations, usually sporadically but once I found loads of the giant S.
minor plants at the Okeefenokee swamp in flower.
Regards,
Phil Wilson
Email: cp@pwilson.demon.co.uk
Web Site: www.pwilson.demon.co.uk
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