Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 08:41:40 -0800 (PST) From: Barry Meyers-Rice <bamrice@ucdavis.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4033$foo@default> Subject: Giant Forms of Sarracenia
Hey Michael,
I tend to agree with you regarding many of these "giant" _Sarracenia_.
I've grown the Okefenokee _Sarracenia minor_ side by side with regular
_Sarracenia minor_, and it retains the crazily tall stature that plants
have in situ. I have no doubt this is genetically fixed. I will be
registering this plant as a cultivar shortly, so we will soon be able to
talk of it more conveniently without raising the ire of our long-suffering
CP cultivar registrar. :)
On the other hand, the clones of _Sarracenia psittacina_ that people
sometimes claim are "giant" are not so impressive. I suspect that these
are clones which respond well to certain cultivation conditions, and if
you match them, then perhaps you will have a larger-than-usual plant. In
other conditions, the plant looks like plain old _S. psittacina_. But in
any event, the "gigantism" does not seem to be as strongly fixed as it is
in the _S. minor_ plants.
I'm not sure about the _Cephalotus_ plants, but I'm leaning towards
believing there are some "giant" clones out there. Every time I've seen a
plant with pitchers that really wow me, it turns out to be one of two
"giant" clones folks talk about.
As a final comment, consider _S. flava_. I've grown dozens of mature,
multi-crowned clones of this species, side by side, for many years. At the
end of each year, some of my plants are always taller than others. The
pitcher canopy (if you would) on some plants are at a different height
than others. I have not doubt this was genetically fixed since my pots,
etc., were all uniform. I'm not saying these are "giants" or "dwarfs", but
just that there are some genetic size characters even with these plants.
Cheers
Barry
------------------------
Dr. Barry A. Meyers-Rice
Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
Conservation Coeditor
barry@carnivorousplants.org
http://www.carnivorousplants.org
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