Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts

[Abdulkarim Elnaas]

I was reaching into my fridge for some jam and I bumped into this. This isn't the first time I've bumped into it and, if it wasn't for all this talk about carnivorous plants, I would have totally ignored it and continued to pretend it didn't exist like I did the other times.



The label reads: D. muscipula / Oct 8th 2018 / 6 - 8 weeks.
Well, its been longer than 6 - 8 weeks, that's for sure. Its one of those projects I started then I totally forgot about. I think there are a couple hundred seeds, but some of them appear to be moldy. definitely something to do during the winter break. If the seeds are still viable that is.

 

[Arthroverts]

Ooh, that is a bit long. The longer you wait on seeds the less germination you get usually, so I don't know if any of them will still be viable at this point. But who knows? The spark that starts the flame, the seed that feeds the addiction...

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Abdulkarim Elnaas]

I'd always figured that the overwintering time (in my fridge) wouldn't allow them to expire as easily - although I did leave them for over a year haha . I'll see in a few weeks (after my exams) if I can get any to germinate.

 

[Arthroverts]

Let us know how it turns out!

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[aphono]

Got some new plants- Drosera Dreamsicle, Sarracenia Dana's Delight, Dionaea King Henry & two Pinguicula hybrids.

 

[schmiggle]

Some places in Newfoundland (like Fogo island) it is hard to walk without stepping on a pitcher plant or a sundew, and I mean that literally. I probably stomped on quite a few tbh. Here are some S. purpurea that were growing near a pond close to my house.
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The Great Swamp in southern Rhode Island is like that. Just magnificent. I really like Sarracenia flowers

 

[schmiggle]

Oh also, Drosera found in Canada also include D. anglica and D. rotundifolia

 

[basin79]

Has everyone ever seen this before? 1 of my sundews has a new plant forming on the end of a flower stalk.

 

[pannaking22]

Has everyone ever seen this before? 1 of my sundews has a new plant forming on the end of a flower stalk.

That's freaking weird, but really really cool!

 

[basin79]

That's freaking weird, but really really cool!

I wonder how weird? Is this the first time you've seen it too?

 

[pannaking22]

I wonder how weird? Is this the first time you've seen it too?

Yep, first for me as well. I wonder if @schmiggle has seen it before?

 

[aphono]

Not too uncommon. Happens on VFT also. Could cut it off to start a new plant. Also apparently some growers use the flower stalks as propagation material. Just set in a container full of distilled water and put under light.

 

[basin79]

Not too uncommon. Happens on VFT also. Could cut it off to start a new plant. Also apparently some growers use the flower stalks as propagation material. Just set in a container full of distilled water and put under light.

Cheers, really appreciate that.

I wonder if there's something that sets this off?

 

[schmiggle]

I wonder how weird? Is this the first time you've seen it too?

Yep, first for me as well. I wonder if @schmiggle has seen it before?

I've never seen it either, but there are seasons when I regularly get flowers with abnormal petal numbers or flowers that have been doubled.

It's probably caused by the inflorescence meristem--the meristem at the end of th stalk--switching to a vegetative meristem. A meristem is the thing inside the bud that grows new parts; they're like plant stem cells, and different meristems produce different parts. The meristem at the end of a sundew flower stalk grows upward and branches flowers to the sides; if it decides it's vegetative, it switches to producing leaves. The immediate cue is likely hormonal; these kinds of things happen in animals, too--like when chemical cues cause an extra leg to grow from the hip--but while in animals they're catastrophic, in plants they tend to be a random oddity and minor inconvenience. I don't know what the environmental cue is, however, if there is one.

 

[basin79]

I was told there is a term for it. Looked it up and yep sure enough there it was.

False vivipary.

 

[Arthroverts]

All I can say is that it's fascinating to see...

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Abdulkarim Elnaas]

It is pretty neat how most of the image searches for false vivipary are carnivorous plants. I don't wanna jump the gun but maybe it is semi-beneficial in these plants and isn't selected against as much as in other plants. I mean, whether the bugs go for the flower or the trap - it is a win. Ideally they go for the flower, introduce some pollen, and then become dinner on the nearby trap.

 

[basin79]

It is pretty neat how most of the image searches for false vivipary are carnivorous plants. I don't wanna jump the gun but maybe it is semi-beneficial in these plants and isn't selected against as much as in other plants. I mean, whether the bugs go for the flower or the trap - it is a win. Ideally they go for the flower, introduce some pollen, and then become dinner on the nearby trap.

Carnivorous plants put a lot of effort in making sure their flowers are high above the "danger zone" to make sure they don't catch the pollinators so I wouldn't imagine it's done with that intention.

 

[aphono]

Carnivorous plants put a lot of effort in making sure their flowers are high above the "danger zone" to make sure they don't catch the pollinators so I wouldn't imagine it's done with that intention.

There's a study on VFT in situ showing there was a difference between insects visiting the flowers versus those getting trapped with not much overlap between the two categories. Iirc that study proposed a possible theory the plants were also using different attraction methods for prey versus pollinator insects.

Possibly related to the 'ease' of false vivipary in CP- Drosera and Pinguicula are especially amenable to very simple/basic cloning methods. Simply pull leaves from Pinguicula and set on moist medium. Drosera do quite well from cuttings from just about any part of the plant. Supposedly root cuttings give good results also. Haven't read up on what methods work well with Dionaea, apparently it's rather easy also.

 

[The Snark]

I'm questioning the term 'false'. To use that term is proclaiming we know every detail of a plant's evolution back to square one, day one. I prefer to use alternative vivipary. And the door remains wide open for the next ringer tossed into the works.