Re: Darlingtonia Pitcher Development/Growth Habit (oops)

From: Doug Burdic (dburdic@presys.com)
Date: Thu May 22 1997 - 15:02:24 PDT


Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 15:02:24 -0700
From: Doug Burdic <dburdic@presys.com>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2032$foo@default>
Subject: Re: Darlingtonia Pitcher Development/Growth Habit  (oops)

Hi,

The paragraph after my saluation was a holdover and not intended to be
part of my post.

Doug

Should have read:

> As opposed to the Sarracenia species, whose mature leaves face towards
> the center of the rosette, Darlingtonia leaves always twist 180 degrees
> so that when mature, the pitcher openings face away from the rosette. I
> had never given this characteristic much thought until today while I was
> in my greenhouse trying to remove new Darlingtonia pitchers that had
> grown into the openings of last year's pitchers. (An annual project that
> is difficult to do without destroying the succulent new growth by the
> way.) If left alone, these new pitchers will be deformed to the point
> where they are useless for capturing insects. Hence my revelation:
> Natural Selection probably selected for plants that tended to rotate
> farther away from the new growth meristem, thus allowing for new leaves
> to form without being destroyed by growing into the hood openings of the
> persistant old growth which characteristically remains for two or three
> seasons on this species. In nature as in my greenhouse, these plants
> form dense clumps and if the pitchers were facing the center of the
> plant, one would expect only a few leaves to emerge through the previous
> year's growth in a functional condition, especially in plant populations
> that are found growing in the lower elevations where the weather is not
> severe enough to enhance biodegradation of the previous year's growth.
>
> Not the most exciting topic of discussion, but worthy of mention anyway.
>
> Take Care,
>
> Doug



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