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Dear All,
Well I've just spent an hour and fifteen
minutes on the phone talking to Thomas Hayes
who has agreed to post out photographs of his
'Red Petioled' clones, by International Express
Post in return for an Express pack from me
containing colour photocopies of some of Colin
Clayton's clones similar to those I have already
sent to Barry. One of Thomas' clones is ultimately
derived from the wild. He has also kindly offered to
photograph his present batch of V.F.T. seedlings
which has at its heart a chance All Red Petioled
seedling! This statement alone gives credence to
Ian English's claims that all the New South Wales
clones are ultimately derived from a chance
seedling he grew himself in the late 1980s. I was
contacted on the weekend by Robert Gibson
former secretary of the New South Wales C.P.
Society who informed me that the plants he had
seen growing in N.S.W. were much darker and
purple in colouration as opposed to the chocolate-
red of the 'Burgundy' clone, being grown by Colin
Clayton of Dingley Home & Garden. This suggests
that the use of colouration as a single factor to
stipulate the granting of P.V.R. may be impossible
but let us not become blase by the thought of a
quick solution to this problem.
Hi Jeff, (Jeff in North Carolina)
The most forward way to prevent Mr. Geoffrey
Mansell acquiring full ratification of his 'Royal Red'
clone is to show a link between the plants he has
offered for P.V.R. and a plant or plants originally
derived from a wild population. I have already
formed a chain of evidence linking the original
import of seed by Mr. Stephen Jackson as
Dionaea 'Rugelii???' (Laurie said on the phone
tonight that he can't quite remember the actual
name except that it wasn't Rugelii but it definitely
sounded like this and began with an "R" - any
takers anyone?) in the early 1980s with the seed
offered to Geoff. Roberts formerly of G. & G.
Carnivors by Paul Kane who self pollinated a plant
he had acquired from Laurie Ritter. Laurie Ritter
had bought up all of Gordon Cheers All Red plants
which he had originally received in a batch of
~5000 seedlings from Stephen Jackson. There is
another branch of this chain leading from Laurie
Ritter all the way to Colin Clayton but I think my
diagram that I will be submitting with the official
objection will summise the passage of plants more
clearly than I have endeavoured to describe here.
All that needs to be done now is to find the person
(definitely of American origin according to Laurie)
who sold the seed to Stephen and to find out
whether or not the original plants were from chance
seedlings or from plants derived from the wild.
Well I've put in the work my end now it's up to you
America, do you think you're up to the challenge?
The second way is take a plant from the wild and
to show via elctrophoretographic techniques that it
is genetically similar within statistical margins to
Mr. Mansell's 'Royal Red' clone.
Thirdly one can 'prove' that Mr. Mansell was not the
originator of the plant in Question.
Finally one can show that the plant in question is
not a stable variety - whether reversion to
heterophyllic form in high nitrogen soils will count
as this we'll just have to wait and see when the
board brings down its findings.
Jeff a statement to the effect that a number of
natural All Red Petioled varieties are known to
occur in the wilds of North Carolina will be fine and
photographs of plants growing in the wild even
better if not excellent! If in doubt send a
photograph wild or cultivated. Multiple objections
can't hurt but you can always come under my
umbrella and save yourself $200(Aust.) which is
how much the price here in Australia is for freedom
of speech though I have already spent some
$745(Aust.) on the campaign to date and am
rapidly running out of funds for this worthy cause for
an American plant under threat in foreign climes.
The publication to which you refer is probably
Gordon Cheers second (1992) book in which I
made my photographic debut. The photograph to
which I refer is on page 24 and taken according to
Gordon by Laurie Pitt though Alistair Culham of the
B.C.P.S. also mentioned seeing a picture of one in
a book recently so between the two of you I reckon
there probably is another book out there
somewhere - Czechoslovakian/Studnicka?
Dear Barry, (Barry Myers-Rice, Arizona U.S.A.)
I dare say the mentioning of the Aussie Template
proves you got my smaller first International
Express Post envelope - was there any doubt? But
this was not the reason I sent it to you. Considering
that most of the United States can fit into Australia
it comes as great surprise that quite a lot of
Americans know more about their own country
than they do about Australia whereas we
Australians tend to know more about the rest of the
world than our own country which is a bit of a
shame so this template was my small plastic
token attempt to solve our international relations. I
can send you Tasmania in the next parcel if you
like - dare say this answers the "cat's" question - it
definitely was 'sans' John.
(John "Catweazle" Taylor, Melbourne Australia!)
The two Red Petioled Clones were germinated in
G. & G. Carnivors lab. that used to be G.R.
Carnivors before Geoff. Mansell became a
partner. I don't think Paul has a lab. though he is
very big on Drosera(s). The seed Paul Kane
swapped with Geoff. Roberts for some Tissue
Culture flasks of D. hilaris and D. cistiflora was
from a plant, he had acquired from Laurie Ritter,
he had pollinated himself.
As was said above all these plants can be traced
back to an import made in the early 1980s by Mr.
Stephen Jackson. There is no listing for a Stephen
Jackson on Bathurst Island off of Darwin and there
are too many listed around Darwin to be phoned
individually. My opinion is that germination of seed
is not a selection process but rather one that
involves maintenance of the gene pool.
The matter of Common Knowledge I think is
covered by the 1986 Volume 10 Spring issue of
the British C.P.S. Journal - well I learnt of its
existence through this article so why didn't Mr.
Mansell review the relevant literature? I was back
then already becoming interested in pigmentation
and the V.F.T. so maybe I took more note of it than
others? Does anyone else remember reading this
article when it first came out?
" The entire plant is suffused to some degree with
anthrocyanin" Can I use this with all due credit in
the official objection Barry? Sums it up rather well I
think. Thanks for the excerpt from the French mag.
- wait to they get a copy of the objection.
Dear Kirk, (Kirk Martin)
As of today Wednesday the 11th. of May I haven't
received Peter Paul's Catalogue that you sent me
but having said that it'll probably turn up tomorrow
(Mug's Law) but I'll thank you in advance - this is
the prompt action I had expected from my first
correspondence however I hadn't counted on the
initial confusion over terminology.
Dear Robert, (Robert L. Briggs, Springfield
Missouri)
Thanx - no there is no editorial but if you're
interested in the ecology of the V.F.T. you can't
surpass the 1958 paper by Patricia R. Roberts
and H. J. Oosting listed in Donald E. Schnells first
and correct me if I'm wrong only book to date
though he has informed me that he is toying with
the idea of putting out one solely devoted to
Sarracenia. Do I need to ask for conformation on
the need for such a book; considering the article
he just wrote for the A.C.P.S. March '94 Bulletin.
Well that just about sums up correspondence to
date. I'd just like to surmise that maybe the seed
sent to Stephen Jackson might have been labelled
Dionaea muscipula "Rubens" or "Rubus" thanks
Jan. for this insight I'll check with Laurie and get
back to you.
Well until next time - all the best from down under.
Yours faithfully,
RICHARD DAVION (TILBROOKE)