Re: VFT lifespan

Kristin L. Mott (klmott@planetx.bloomu.edu)
Fri, 27 Oct 1995 15:06:01 -0400

>From alfor.lewis@chmcc.org Wed Oct 18 12:20 EDT 1995
X-Sender: alfor.lewis@chmcc.org (Unverified)
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
To: klmott@planetx.bloomu.edu

Kristin,

Please deliver this message to Thomas Hayes.

Thanks for your plant list, here's mine (nowhere near as comprehensive as
yours, I'm afraid).

CEPHALOTUS

C. follicularis=DD

DIONAEA

Dionaea muscipula (typical form)

DROSERA

D. adelae? (very young)=DD*

D. aliciae or hamiltonii?*

D. anglica=DD*

D. binata T-form?

D. binata dichotoma 'Giant'=DD*

D. binata multifida 'Extrema'=DD*

D. capensis*

D. capensis alba (seeds available)

D. capillaris?

D. dielsiana (very young)

D. filiformis var. filiformis*

D. filiformis var. tracyi*

D. intermedia*

D. intermedia 'Cuba'=DD* This may be dead!

D. x Marston Dragon

D. x California Sunset=DD* This may be dead!

NEPENTHES

N. deyerania x N. thorelii*

N. x wrigleyana*

PINGUICULA

P. grandiflora

P. caudata?

SARRACENIA

S. alata

S. alata 'black tube'*

S. flava 'burgundy'*

S. flava 'copper top'*

S. flava 'maxima'*

S. flava 'rugelii'*

S. leucophylla*

S. minor=DD*

S. minor 'Okefenokee Giant'=DD* This may be dead!

S. psittacina*

S. purpurea ssp. purpurea

S. purpurea ssp. purpurea 'heterophylla'

S. purpurea ssp. venosa

S. rubra 'typica'

S. rubra ssp. alabamensis?*

S. x catesbaei (F2 seeds available)

S. x chelsonii

S. x mitchelliana*

S. x mooreana*

S. rubra x S. alata*

S. alata x S. flava*

S. leucophylla x S. minor (2 varieties)*

* indicates that I only have one example of each, I probably have 3-4 of
those not marked.

=DD indicates that the plant is not doing well!

The majority of plants that are sickly - few roots, failure to produce
pitchers (they grow up to about 1 inch then appear to rot) were imported
from Britain and for some reason have failed to establish. It's not the
water and it's not the light. Some plants have already undergone a
complete cycle of seasons in this country - maybe this isn't long enough,
although others recovered within 2 months or so.

Some of my plants were purchased from Peter Paul's Nurseries, but the
majority rotted away/failed to produce any growth. This is where I bought
the alabamensis? - it was not bought as such and I'm not sure whether it
really is an alabamensis - I've never seen one. It is much larger than my
other rubras, has a downward pointing spout and a widenening of the tube
near the mouth and looks somewhat similar to one shown in "Carnivorous
Plants" by Adrian Slack. I wonder whether you would be able to identify it
if I sent you a cut pitcher.

I have purchased a number of plants from Orgel's Orchids and have had great
success with the majority of the plants. I had a problem with a couple of
Droseras (rotundifolia and hybrida) that were going dormant on arrival and
these were literally lost when their pots were blown down one evening!

I also purchased some plants from California Carnivores but, owing to a
UPS delivery problem, the plants looked sickly on arrival. However, their
soil was still wet, so I hope they'll improve after dormancy.

I would be more than happy to send you one each of my unknown? plants so
that you could identify them positively (and add them to your collection).
Of course, you are welcome to anything else that I have. As you can see, I
have nothing extraordinary, although most Sarracenias should be flowering
age. I would like to swap plants with you, but if there's nothing that you
are interested in I am prepared to pay. I have indicated on the list below
which plants or seeds I am interested in. I have to admit that many of
your Droseras are unknown to me, so if you'd rather substitute something
from your list for one of my choices, that's fine.

BYBLIS

B. liniflora (seed would be fine)

DIONAEA MUSCIPULA

anthocyanin free
"all-red"
"red-jaws"
"variegated"

DROSERA

D. capensis "red"
D. capensis "wide leaf" (pink fl.)
D. rotundifolia (Pine Barrens) (pink fl.)
D. slackii
D. x hybrida
D. x California Sunset

PETIOLARIS DROSERA

D. petiolaris (cold tolerant form) (dark pink fl.)

PYGMY DROSERA

D. ericksonae
D. pulchella (pink fl.)

TUBEROUS DROSERA

D. peltata ssp. auriculata (seed would be fine)

SARRACENIA

S. leucophylla "red tube"
S. minor (Okefenokee Giant) (seed would be fine)
S. rubra ssp. jonesii (seedling)
S. x gilpini "alba" =3D (psittacina "alba" x jonesii "alba")

Sounds normal to me. After all, they are just plants and not animals.
In fact, I would begin to worry if it didn't die by that point......

It might start walking around next. Hmmmmm, that would be neat though :)

Take care & keep on growing,

-Tom- & Krissy