Those following the intrepid adventures of a wandering amateur botanist
will no doubt be familiar (= bored) with the stories of how to find a
Pinguicula jackii. So, because I love to keep people interested, here's
an update on how to kill a P. jackii.
First you plant it in a special environment so that it receives special
attention. Then you simulate the wild environment - in this case, using
a "soil" of really hard calcareous rock. And you water it constantly
using a tray that can hold enough water to last a week. Then comes the
tricky bit - listen carefully - you get food poisoning and while busy
trying to die for two weeks, you neglect little things like telling your
girlfriend to water certain rather valuable plants that you've placed
out of the way (so she doesn't water them when she waters the other
plants).
When you get well you are highly likely to find a shrivelled mass to be
very proud of. However, frustrated actor that I am, all is not what it
seems. Had I remained ill for a third week, P. jackii may well have
died. As it was, it didn't, but only just! What was a luscious eight
leaved plant had a single not very happy leaf remaining. A little love,
not to mention some water, has now helped the plant recover and it has
three leaves. Only time will tell if it will actually survive the
shock.
But I think I learnt more than the obvious from this small event. In
the wild, P. jackii grows on a vertical calcareous cliff face
(effectively exactly the same environment as the european P.
vallisneriifolia). The overhang prevents water falling on the cliff
face or plants when it rains. There is no reliable source of water
feeding through the rock from above (this is contrary to P.
vallisneriifolia where the rock it grows on is a seep, with water
running slowly thorough the rock all summer) (maybe in winter too?).
So, if there is little or no rain falling on the plant or surrounding
rock and if there is minimal water seeping from above, then from where
does the drought intolerant P. jackii (it only had to last a bout one
week without being watered)obtain a regular supply of water? Well P.
jackii is an alpine plant, growing on the third highest peak in Cuba.
It is high enough to be above the altitude at which occassional frosts
hit (in severe winters), such as in the winter of 1994-95 (though I
belive the orientation of the cliffs prevent P. jackii from actually
being exposed to frost). So, at this altitude, nights are always quite
cold and days are always really warm. Therefore P. jackii almost
certainly gets daily, or actually nightly, water from condensation as
the night causes a rapid drop in temperature and the humid air is unable
to retain its moisture.
The only way to be sure is to be up there in the mountain as the night
settles in. Oh dear, looks like I'll have to go back and check. What a
drag!!!
(One question - no doubt Jan is able to answer, or maybe someone else can.
According to the rules on naming, should P. jackii now be referred to as P.
jackyi? I think that all commemorative plant names relating to latinised
people's names may be required to have endings of -ii rewritten as -yi. Am I
right? Boy is this naming stuff complex!!!)
Regards
Paul