Exactly! This is precisely the type of study I have wanted to do for a few
years now. Problem is, without the funding I can't go abroad to do the
necessary sampling, and with the current money situation, funding for this
type of work is hard to come by. Maybe I'll get lucky this year. Martin
Zevenbergen kindly did some scouting for me this summer in Switzerland, but
was unable to find the plants in the reported locations. My literature
searches show reports of _S. purpurea_ in Ireland and Wales, also possibly
in the New Forest regions of the UK. The Irish populations would be
especially interesting since they were established nearly 100 years ago.
If you or anyone else would be able to (legally :-)) obtain some samples of
_S. purpurea_ pitcher fluid I would be most grateful. I can give more
details on collection and preservation by personal mail to anyone who is
interested.
Regards,
Liane
>Would it be interesting to compare the _S. purpurea_ in U.S.=20
>with the introduced _S. purpurea_ in Sweden?
>They have been here for at least 10 years and are doing well and=20
>spreading.
>Even if the Swedish _S. purpurea_ doesn't have the same species=20
>of symbionts, they may have symbionts from the same genus or=20
>family.
>
>BTW is _S. purpurea_ introduced to other places in Europe?=20
>Magnus Thor=E9n=20
>Plantecology, Department of Ecology, Lund University
>Ekologihuset, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden
>Tel +46-(0)46-2229311
>
>Magnus.Thoren@planteco.lu.se
Liane Cochran-Stafira
Dept. of Ecology and Evolution
The University of Chicago
1101 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637-5415
phone: 312-702-1930
e-mail: lcochran@midway.uchicago.edu