Mexico and Pings

Don Burden (donb@coplex.coplex.com)
Thu, 18 Nov 93 23:06 EST

Barry writes:
>Marvin: I'm going to look into the idea of heading down to Oaxaca or
>the Yucatan.

Why stop at Oaxaca?? Let's rent an RV and take everyone who wants to
come along on a CP South American Friendship Tour to Tierra del Fuego!

===================
Our _P. cyclosecta_ plants are probably mislabelled! Read on...

Jan writes:
>Robert Allen told me he has some plants labelled _P.cyclosecta_, and he
>stated he got the plants from you. As I was a bit sceptical about the
>identity of these, I asked him to describe his plants. He said he had not
>had flowers yet on his plants but he sent me a description he got from you.
>There, the flowers are described as being 2 cm long with a spur 5 mm long.
>Now, _P.cyclosecta_, belonging to sect. Orcheosanthus (i.e. related to
>_P.moranensis_), has very long spurs at least as long as the rest of the
>corolla (>10 mm). As far as I know, _P.cyclosecta_ was collected only once
>(the type collection on which the species is based), and this species was
>never cultivated.
>For these reasons I think it is highly unlikely these plants should really
>be _P.cyclosecta_.
>Do you know where your plants are from, and who has IDed them? Any
>information would be very welcome. Maybe we could find out which species
>you really have. TNX for your efforts
>Kind regards
>Jan

My plants were received in a trade from Patrick Dwyer many years ago.

Miloslav Studnicka may have the actual species. I know he received some
plants from a botanist in Cuba who collected Pinguicula on an expedition
to Mexico.

My _P. cyclosecta_(?) flowered two years ago but has not flowered since.
>From the side-view, the flower looked very much like that of P. kondoi from
Kondo's book - corolla fused almost the whole length with slight flaring
of the petals at the end. No definite 'lip'.

I just pulled a leaf off - length is 4 cm, width at the widest point (at
leaf tip) is 1.6 cm. Very succulent and thick - 4 mm thick. Leaf tip shaped
like a complete semicircle (1/2 circle) with slight rolling of the edge.
Leaf-tip rolling is not as pronounced as with other species.

This plant's leaves are also very similar to _P. kondoi_ but all my
_P. kondoi_ plants have a slight pinkish coloration toward the center
of the rosettes. _P. cyclosecta_(?) is completely green.

--
Don Burden
New Albany, Indiana, USA
donb@coplex.com