Re: Introductions

ASMJC@ASUACAD.BITNET
Sat, 01 Dec 90 18:06:27 MST

> Nepenthes
Don, sounds nice. How do you maintain long Nepenthes vines under
lights? Space is usually the biggest problem with Nepenthes in my
experience, especially if you grow them in tanks, which you MUST do in
Arizona (unless u have a real humid greenhouse- rare.) A number of my
Nepenthes are getting rather large, but none have begun upper growth.
Once they do I will be in a bit of a bind. They are confined to a 55
gal aquarium. Some of the favorites I grow are N. maxima, N.
rafflesiana 'nivea', and N. ventricosa. I have not had much luck (or
even much experimentation) with the tropical pings. I will try to bit
you a file of my plant list. I am not a real computer wizard, so if the
transfer fails I will resort to mail. Did you send your mailing
address? Ah! I could just check CPN.

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