Re: Pure, pure, species

Carl Mazur (cherryhillcp@freenet.hamilton.on.ca)
Sat, 19 Oct 1996 21:00:16 -0400 (EDT)

> > I would like to see a collection of guaranteed species of Sarracenia
> > backed up by DNA checking to be used as both a reference and a
> > source of true species for collectors.
>
>
> Whoa, if that kind of effort is put into guaranteeing species
> "purity", can you imagine how much these plants would cost! :-)

Yikes! what is a pure species? I'm very conviced that much of the
variation in Sarracenia plants is due, in part, to hybridization.
When you hear of these "giant" plants, or plants that morphilogically look
different from various areas in their range, its due to hybrid influence.
Plants that are geologically isolated have much less of a chance obviously
of having their gene pools diluted. S. oreophila, jonseii, and rubra from
the western Counties of Georgia are probably quite "pure" however, the
gulf coast is very much filled with introgressed plants. Don Schnell once
mentioned to me that many of the abnormal traits of some species is very
much do to some introgressed genes from a hybrid cross at some point. Take
for example gulfensis, wherryii and alata and leucophylla. Many of these
plants are extememly variable in nature, which of these variants is the
true species? Besides if a hybrid manages to isolate, and overcome its
parents, so that all that is left is the hybrids, wont' they in time
stabilize genetically? Isn't this a new species! There is site in florida
that was a minor psit bog. Last I heard, neither of those parent plants
are present any longer, just the hybrids. Given time, this may be a new
species!

Just my 2 cents

Carl J. Mazur