Re: Sarracenia
John Ford (jford@ruacad.ac.runet.edu)
Thu, 8 Jun 1995 22:01:05 -0400 (EDT)
It seems to me that being under water in the winter might be a very
useful survival technique. A nice layer of water would act as a
buffer between the plant and any sub-zero temperatures and from the
damaging cold, dry winds. I know that my zone 6 plants often
sustain frost damage when the air temperature is well above freezing
but with moderate humidity, but seem to have no problems handling
temperatures down to freezing if it is raining. If the plant is
dormant, the lack of catchable food would not be a factor in it's
survival. I know there are number of emergent/aquatic plants in
the local rivers and ponds that use this technique for winter
survival - they loose their surface and above surface leaves and
only retain those that are below the water's surface.
John
jford@ruacad.ac.runet.edu