Date: Sat, 29 Nov 1997 09:04:40 -0500 (EST) From: Dionaea@aol.com To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4542$foo@default> Subject: P. purpurea purpurea stolonifera
In a message dated 97-11-28 20:18:45 EST, you write:
<< A chap by the name of Chris Belanger (hi christoph) showed me a picture of
purp from the New Jersey pine barrens that was enormous in size, and another
gent in Virginia has told me of sites where the purps were almost a metre
across. Like any other Sarr, genetics as well as environment come into
play. I have seen flava almost 1.25 metres in height in florida, as well as
plants that will not get taller than 50cms. Conditions (that day) seemed
quite similar in both habitats, however, the plant sizes were very
different. This genetic influence becomes clear when growing various
"strains" of the same species of Sarr side by side in a greenhouse. Again,
I have plants in cultivation, same growing environment (pot size, media,
water etc), with very evident size differences. I have 10 year old flavas,
for example, that will not grow taller than 30-40 cms, right beside flavas
almost a metre tall!!
>>
Since Carl (Hi Carl) brought it up I might as well comment... The plant to
which he referred was found in a location that had 100,000s (no joke - and
others have seen this site) of such enormously huge S. purpurea. I believe
the plants (with the help of Sphagnum) overgrew a lake that was once there.
The Sphagnum took hold and then the Sarrs. - and these are the only two
species of plants that grew in that particular area. As you waded through
hip deep water you could not help but crush some of the plants. The plants
themselves had stolons about 30-60cm long, and the leaves grew to the surface
form about 50cm below the surface of the Sphagnum. The petiole was ca. 50cm
and the trap itself was another 30-40cm. I have noticed that in many of
these localities the Sphagnum grows very long and very fast, which explains
the very long stolons of the plants which was necessary to keep up with the
rate of growth of the Sphagnum.
In cultivation, the petiole shortened considerably but the size of the trap
remained the same length in similarly wet conditions. I had this plant for
about 10 years and during this time it _never_ flowered. I am not really
sure why because all the Sarrs did fine. Unfortunately, last year, for
unknown reasons, this wonderful plant passed away...
Christoph
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