Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 00:06:55 +0000 From: Borneo Exotics <borneo@sri.lanka.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3568$foo@default> Subject: Re: Multiflowering N. spathulata x maxima
Hi Michael, Dave,
Interesting discussion. Here's my two cents (actually Rupees in Sri Lanka)
worth: I checked out the photo on your web site Michael, and it looks to
me as if that plant may possibly be flowering due to stress. The pot may
be too small perhaps and it may be feeling "pot-bound", or perhaps some
other environmental factor. Anyway, it does seem abnormal for such a young
plant to have produced three flower spikes already.
Nepenthes flower without upper pitchers quite often. The factors
determining flowering are probably more to do with environmental conditions
and the general condition of the plant than anything else.
I think Dave is probably right. No natural Nepenthes hybrid I have ever
seen is sterile. Complex hybrids in the wild are not at all rare. We are
raising seeds from very many natural hybrids. It's a lot of fun actually
as, for example, seeds collected from Nepenthes rafflesiana x Nepenthes
bicalcarata are coming up with all sorts of amazing forms as a result of
the proximity of five possible species to donate pollen.
The myth about sterile hybrids may perhaps be due to the fact that natural
hybrids often flower out of sequence with parent (and other nearby) species
and are therefore barren. Of course, in cultivation they may flower any
time. People often fail to succesfully pollinate species, but would never
blame that on sterility of species. It's easy to pin the blame on hybrids
though as no-one is quite sure about their fecundity (correct word? I
don't know...)
Dave, you mention the possibility that perhaps certain species are not
crossable. I hope that isn't the case. There goes my dream of a
polyploidal Nepenthes rajah with Nepenthes bicalcarata teeth and Nepenthes
hamata peristome... ;-)
Best regards,
Rob Cantley
Borneo Exotics
<http://www.borneoexotics.com>
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