D. rotundifolia
Peter Cole (carnivor@bunyip.demon.co.uk)
Fri, 12 May 1995 13:32:53 GMT
I've just noticed something rather strange with my D. rotundifolia,
and I wondered if anyone could shed a little light.
The flowers on my D. rotundifolia, from 2nd generation Welsh seed
collected locally, are opening - and they're pink! The original parent
plants were most certainly white-flowering as were all last year's crop,
as are the other rotundifolias of unspecified origin in my collection.
It's possible (though unlikely,) that I've mislabelled the seeds or the
pot, but anyway, as I say, all my other rotundifolias are also white-
flowering (up to now anyway.)
Slack mentions that pink-flowering forms are occasionally found in
N. American plants, but I can find no mention of European ones.
I'm growing them in a terrarium under VERY bright lights on a 16 hr
cycle with no other potential pollinators, so I can't see how they could
be anything but selfed. Perhaps the lights are responsible? they're
flowering within 3-5 inches of a 1500 lumen fluorescent bulb. I've
moved some less well-developed ones to a shadier aspect to see how
they turn out, and I've a tray of them outdoors which are barely out
of hibernation.
Does anyone know if pink rotundifolia are a genetically stable
form, an occasional abberation, or a reactive phenomenon? I'm at a
loss...
Happy growing,
Peter
Peter Cole | carnivor@bunyip.demon.co.uk | very odd indeed...
Swansea, WALES | new mailbox, same account |