Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 11:39:40 -0600 From: John Green <john.green@ascensus.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2806$foo@default> Subject: S. purpurea inefficient?
Recently there was a bit of discussion on whether or not S. purpurea was a
very efficient insect catcher (sorry, I feel compelled to defend the plant).
As for efficiency, I notice that nearly all of my upright plants catch way
more insects than they can handle, usually causing the pitcher to die
prematurely. While I'm grateful to them for eliminating so many pesky bugs,
most of it is wasted and provides no additional nutrients to the plant (in
other words, inefficient). S. purpurea, on the other hand, seems to catch
less insects and over a longer period of time. I'm not sure if I've ever
seen a pitcher dying of indigestion. They also seem to catch a greater
variety of pests, even slugs and snails, and yellow jackets don't seem to be
able to chew their way out like they do in the upright varieties. I sat one
afternoon watching my bog, and noticed that flies often crawled in and out
of purpureas and purp hybrids, and decided that they are probably never
caught. Then, upon closer inspection, I noticed dead flies in several of
the pitchers. I'll agree that the biggest downside of purps is the bad
smell when large amounts of bugs have been caught (I think someone called
them "stench-bowls"). But I think to call it inefficient is wrong. S.
purpurea is simply designed differently, and while it may not catch as much
as the upright varieties, it catches enough. Anyway, for what it's worth...
John Green
Salt Lake City, Utah
"Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires, but according to
our powers." -- Henry F. Amiel
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:35:13 PST