Date: Wed, 04 Nov 1998 22:15:35 -0500 From: Larry Gottlieb <lgott@ibm.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3511$foo@default> Subject: Re: Carnivorous Orchid?
Jan,
> This sounds interesting. _Aracamunia_ was apparently never mentioned
> in the scientific literature since its description in 1989. Was the
> plant studied alive? Any digestive enzymes? Does the article you
> mentioned cite any original literature, or does it contain an
> experimental section?
I'm not sure how well I can interpret the article, but I'll try. The
plant was not alive when studied. Three small plants were collected
and preserved in newpapers saturated with 50 percent ethyl alcohol --
for about 10 days. At that point, the plant material was presented to
a botanist (Carnevali) who pickled them in alcohol.
If I interpret the references correctly, the only reference to this
orchid is a 1989 article -- perhaps the one to which you referred.
The citation is: Carnevali, G. and I. Ramirez. 1989, Orchidaceae.
Pages 962 to 964 in J.A. Steyermark et al., Flora of the Venezuelan
Guayana VII. Contributions to the Flora of the Cerro Aracamuni,
Venezuela. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 76:945-992.
The new article is by Romero, Carnevali, and Ramirez. It appears no
new plant samples have been obtained. They note the ugent need for
another expedition to collect further material, and to study the site,
as the plant's habitat is threatened by gold miners working in the
area.
Other than that, they note that "The anatomy of the ligules of
Aracamunia is currently being studied by Richard Keating, PhD,
currently at the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale. The
results are now being analyzed for future publication."
Hope this helps.
Larry
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