Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 13:07:12 -0500 From: Rand Nicholson <writserv@nbnet.nb.ca> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg409$foo@default> Subject: Re: Aristilochia deblis ?
>Dear Tom,
>
>> Subject: Aristilochia deblis ?
>> Im hope someone has this plant or seed.
>
>Sorry, I do not have it.
>
>> What is it
>
>As the name tells already, it is an _Aristolochia_ (birthwort).
(snip)
>
>> is it carnivorous ?
>
>No. Like all _Aristolochiae_ (and quite a few other plants), it
>depends on invertebrates for pollination and not for nutrition (cf.
>previous discussions on this list). For more information, please
>refer to a standard textbook of Botany.
>
>Kind regards
>Jan
Just to expand on this a _very_ little: _Aristolochiae_ (sometimes called
Dutchman's Pipe) has a reputation for being carnivorous in large part
because dead insects are commonly found in its bloom. If you smelled like
decomposed meat you would have flies on you, too. Many Arisaemae
(Jack-in-the-Pulpit) and Aroids have got this reputation, also, and for the
same reason. Commercial plant catalogues seem to delight in perpetuating
this type of annoying mis-information.
If you look carefully into the throats of most funnel shaped blooms, or
inflorescences,that have been open for a while, you can usually find dead
insects. In many instances the insect just can't find its way out. You
might also find a fat, live Wolf Spider (Eastern Maritime Canada; jumping,
non-web spinner, or other hunting bugs), or some such, depending on your
part of the world.
Draw your own conclusions.
Kind Regards,
Rand
Rand Nicholson <writserv@nbnet.nb.ca>
New Brunswick, Canada, Zone 8-5, 8-5, 8-5 ...
The Great Brown North
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