Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 14:55:00 -0400 From: "Mellard, David" <dam7@cdc.gov> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3332$foo@default> Subject: RE: Confused Flava / Bloom
>From: Danny Hammons
>My S. leucophylla and S. flava have been producing phyllodia-like
leaves
>(winter leaves) since summer got very hot in about mid July.
Hi Danny,
The leuco's and flava's that are growing in an outdoor bog in Atlanta
also sent up their phyllodia leaves within the last month. I thought
this was odd until I saw a patch of flava's in a bog in the Florida
panhandle (again about a month ago) that had also sent up phyllodia. My
guess is that it's due to the stress of summer, either too high heat or
too low soil moisture or both.
>A week or so ago, I noticed that the leucs were growing normal
>traps again, so I cut off all of the phyllodia leaves on both the leucs
and
>flavas. All are now producing normal traps again.
Had you not cut off the phyllodia, the plants would have probably still
sent up their pitchers. My leuco's have not sent up their late summer
pitchers while the flava's have been trying miserably to send them up.
I say miserably because they come up deformed or do not completely
develop. It could be that the bog dries between watering (either
rainfall or an occassionally tap water from me). Atlanta is
experiencing its typical semiarid summer of sporadic thundershowers;
they just have been sporadic in my yard in weeks.
>Yesterday I noticed something very strange. One of the flavas has
sprouted a >flower stalk! Is this normal?
>From what I've read on the list a summer flower stalk is not that
unusual, although you should probably not let it set seed. I've read
that it's likely to get a fungal infection should the flower pod not dry
completely before cool weather sets in.
>Or is this plant confused?
The plant is still confused, albeit in a normal way.......rather like
humans.
>Has anyone seen this before?
Not on my flavas but I had a Sarr purpurea heterophylla flower late in
the summer. It seems to have a seed pod developing, which is really odd
since there were no other flowers blooming at the time and since I
didn't hand pollinate it. Of course, it could still be a confused bee
trying to back out of a maze or experiencing a vapor lock (i.e., not
remembering that it had visited that flower.)
David
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