Some of my plants, S.flava, never make phyllodia but most do. Infact I
have one called 'red form' and it very red in the spring but after the
first batch of pitchers in makes only phyllodia with a chance pitcher
now and then which are very small. Whole plant loses it red hue and
now those bright red pitchers from the spring look just like those cut-
throat flavas with lots of flat leaves growing around them.
> to recall that S. minor had two flowering periods even when I was in the
> midwest, although I may be misremembering. I think transplanting may also
> affect trap prod
Are your S.minor able to produce seed from these second flowers? When
I get fall flowers they just don't seem to make. It's not that the cold
kills them, the flower buds just pitter out and shrivel before the frosts
hit.
> I think you may be right when you infer that the S. flava may be older traps
> produced in early to mid summer. Maybe the first S. leuco traps of the year
> have already dried up and been replaced while the flava just hang on looking
> scruffy. I have never carefully compared the trap life for various species.
I see the same thing in my S.leuco: weak traps in the spring, summer
phyllodia, robust fall pitchers. The last to grow make it past many
frosts, while nearly all the other Sarr's pitchers are fried.
The only pitchers on my S.leucophylla are the one's that came in the
last two weeks. All rest, but one really huge monster, had filled
with insects and rotted. The petioles are still there and about 12 to
16 inches tall but the pitchers are gone. There is alot more white in
the fall pitchers than the spring ones, and they just look alot better.
B.T.W. it should be noted (I've never seen it myself) that Sarracenia
are evergreen plants. None of them lose their leaves with fall. Sure
most of the pitchers get beat by frost or rot but they don't drop the
leaves until well into the next spring - An evergreen!
Dave Evans