I did research on VFT's as a freshman in college, many, many,
years ago, and have been interested in them ever since.
Recently, I decided to try tissue culture micro-propagation, and
have been doing it with increasing success for about three months.
For those who aren't familiar with this technique, an explant
(in this case a VFT seed) is sterilized and grown on a medium
containing food and hormones. As a result, the plant's growth
rate is greatly increased.
My main interest at present is trying to increase the hardiness
of VFT's, so that they could be grown here in New England (with
protection, or preferably without).
Schnell, in "CP of US and Canada", says that VFT's have "thrived in
bogs in Pennsylvania and Michigan". My climate here in central Mass.
is only slightly colder.
So I wonder if anyone has seeds they could spare from plants grown
outdoors in climates colder than that of North Carolina.
If so, I will try to get them to the flowering stage ASAP with tissue
culture, and make some crosses. Then we'll let natural selection
take its course (with variable levels of protection). I've made
several small outdoor bogs already, and have about 20 more acres of
wetland, so space is no problem.
Of course, mature plants would be even better, and I'd be glad
to make suitable arrangements if you want to offer such.
Thanks very much.
Fred K. Lenherr
lenherr@cs.umass.edu