I have dappled a bit with orchids. The University of Connecticut
greenhouse, where I worked for 3 years wile I got my undergrad degree,
has a spectacular collection. Thanks to an eccentric PhD. student of
the orchidaceae, the greenhouse is well stocked with dwarf stuff, mostly
Pleurothallis, Oncidiums, Bulbophyllums, etc... Every time I visit home
I stop in and get a few cuttings. It is frustrating that so few are
labeled! i am now growing about 20 little orchids.
>Rob, I see from CPN that you are working on the D. spathulata complex. I
have heard that this complex is actually a polyploid series which runs from
a diploid spathulata up to an octoploid which is D. aliciae.
Do the "varieties" of D. spathulata correspond to different ploidy levels?
Is D. aliciae really just a high ploidy D. spathulata? Is it really deserving
of species status if this is the case? Why the abrupt change in morphology in
the octoploid?
Have you talked with the psycho Whovian Drosera tracker thru time and space:
John Degreef of Belgium?
> Note: All of those of you who might be inclined to mess with colchicine,
hoping to make giant flytraps: I have heard that giganism in polyploids is
mostly confined to the reproductive structures. Thus polyploid blueberries
and polyploid snapdragons are much bigger than normal, but the plant size is
not changed so much. Moreover, successive ploidy increases to hexaploids and
octoploids, etc. usually do not result in any greater enlargement of features.
Sorry.
MJC