Re: Insect-catching flowers (was Re: New CP????)
writserv@mi.net
Wed, 10 Jan 1996 08:30:46 -0400
>>A webcrawler search on "carnivorous plants" turned up Sally & Co.
>>Seeds page, an online catalog which lists a "Chinese Fly-Catching
>>Vine"
>
>
>As Jan pointed out, Aristolochia doesn't actually eat insects. Here's
>some other interesting plants that have structures to trap insects but
>are not cp's. Most are in cultivation:
>
>Coryanthes - an orchid genus in which the flowers have an upside down
>basin filled with an intoxicating liquid - a bee falls in, gets drunk,
>and picks up pollen bundles as it staggers out. These can be grown
>with lowland Nepenthes, if you use a fan for air circulation.
>
>Aesclepiadaceae - many milkweed relatives temporarily detain insects in
>their flowers. Good examples include some Ceropegias (haygarthii,
>balleyana and others), Pseudomallum pectinarium.
>
>Araceae - others know more about this than me, but there's a number of
>aroids, including some Amorphophallus, which have collapsing flowers
>designed to temporarily trap pollinators.
>
>A little off the cp thread, but interesting anyway.
... And let's not forget the ARISAEMA, which is commonly known around New
Brunswick, Canada, as the "Jack in the Pulpit." Having grown these for many
years because their woodland habitant is being destroyed (I return the pups
to protected sites), I have noticed that the mature cups usually contain a
variety of dead insects. This is _not_ to say that the plants are
carnivorous, just a bunch of dead bugs at the bottom of the hooded spathe.
There is no trap; insects may come and go freely. The point is, the thing
_looks_ like it should be a CP.
Speaking of Araceae, Sauromatum guttatum puts forth strikingly beautiful
flowers that have the stench of rotting meat. Flies abound, but as the
blooms only last for a few days (thankfully) there is not a probability of
carnivorous activity. The rest of the plant is attractive leafy foliage.
Rand Nicholson (writserv@mi.net)
Canada