North American Pitcher Plants in California - WIP

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Today's update. One pitcher open. All facing west. Two theories. That's the hot side. They all just face west, or random chance all are facing west.

[rockpickerforever]

Mine are so puny compared to those, Scott!   I only have one flower, no pitchers open yet. Only a couple even developing.

But I have seeds developing!!  (gotta be happy about something

Edit - Oh, and those couple developing pitchers are only six inches tall, not HUGE like that at all.  You must be giving them good vibes or something...

[Deleted]

They are in the hottest part of the yard. Morning shade, midday filtered sun, late day full hot sun.

They do seem to be taking off.

congrats on the seeds. I am not manipulating them in that regard. Maybe no seeds and faster growth?

[Pat]

@shotgunner on your plants with the flower on top, which part becomes the pitcher?

I can see how the tall skinny leaves could develop into pitchers, but I cannot see it in the flower type.

jamesp. Same question re your natiive red ones and the Leuc. Thanks.

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Pat the flower stem has no pitcher. Just the tall skinny leaves. I'll go get a pic

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Hobo the wonderdog helping out



This should 'splain it well enough



and because I wanna tease Jean a little



now he is pissed at me. He hates his pic taken

[Pat]

Ahhhh, thanks for that explanation. The flower is there to propagate the species, and the leaves /pitchers attract bugs to feed the plants. Clever!

I wonder if the helpful bugs.bees that gather the pollen are attracted to the pitchers's scent and fall in. That wouldn't be very beneficial to the plant. Maybe one set of critters are attracted to the flower ( to help propagate ), and another set of critters are attracted to the pitchers ( to help feed the plant ).

Is that what's going on?

[Deleted]

I doubt that evolution has made the pitchers so selective.

I'll hazard to say that the reproductive flower seems to be pollinated long before the pitchers begin feeding. So the pollinator's are beneficial both in pollen season and feeding season. Sneaky!

[rockpickerforever]

and because I wanna tease Jean a little

Thanks a bunch for that, Scott. Yeah, rub it in, just a little, lol!

Apr 17, 2014 19:29:11 GMT -5 @shotgunner said:

Hobo the wonderdog helping out


now he is pissed at me. He hates his pic taken

That's funny! Lucy likes having her pic taken, she is a camera hog! Wonder where she got that from? I didn't teach it to her.

[Pat]

Apr 17, 2014 19:53:19 GMT -5 @shotgunner said:

I doubt that evolution has made the pitchers so selective.

I'll hazard to say that the reproductive flower seems to be pollinated long before the pitchers begin feeding. So the pollinator's are beneficial both in pollen season and feeding season. Sneaky!

Hmmm, seems counterproductive to eat the critter that helps you reproduce!

[rockpickerforever]

Symbiosis isn't always a fair deal!

[jamesp]

Apr 17, 2014 20:21:49 GMT -5 rockpickerforever said:

Symbiosis isn't always a fair deal!

Check out the affairs of the Black Widow spider. She is large and heavy. Her lover slim and trim. A source of nutrition. Cannibalistic love at it's pinnacle.
The things us men will do for a lady....violins playing

[rockpickerforever]

James, that's not quite the same thing, lol. To him, it's worth it... Besides, he gets to pass on his genes to the next generation. (That is, unless someone beat him there, uh-oh) Think of his small, wimpy body as a goodbye present to his prodigy oops, meant progeny. The ultimate sacrifice!

[jamesp]

Close enough for discomfort. Looking at it from the male viewpoint it is not too reassuring. Does the word sacrificee exist ?

worth it ?? well, we do fall for certain things. eaten alive may be a bit extreme.

[rockpickerforever]

It's a rough and tumble, dog-eat-dog, anything goes world. There are no guarantees. Either you get something, or it gets you. Okay, I think eaten alive I could do without. But at least the male black widow got some before he went - left the world with a smile on his face, if that were possible. Think about something that gets eaten alive by a praying mantis. Rip, tear, chew, gulp - gone, just like that. The unsuspecting prey didn't get a going away present first, nothing, nada.

Since I can't look at it from the male viewpoint, I'll have to see it from the other side. The female widow is providing for her family-to-be, being economical with resources (yeah, that's what the male is - a resource!), seeing to the propagation of her young, the continuation of her species. Waste not, want not. But I still don't like them, and will squish them whenever I see them, lol! NIMBY!! They can continue the species somewhere else.

Now, back to the sarracenias. I'm thinking being eaten alive is maybe quicker than a slow drowning death in a pitcher plant. Or is the liquid inside a numbing agent, making you drown faster? You know, like fermented?

[gemfeller]

Apr 18, 2014 11:37:56 GMT -5 rockpickerforever said:

Or is the liquid inside a numbing agent, making you drown faster? You know, like fermented?

That reminds me of a story.

Seamus worked at an ale brewery in Dublin. Late one afternoon he slipped and fell into a huge vat of ale and drowned.

Several co-workers went to Seamus' home to inform his wife of the tragic event.

“Poor, poor man!” she wailed. “Did he suffer?”

“Oh no,” said his friend Clancy. “In fact he climbed out and went to the loo three times before he finally perished.”

[jamesp]

Now, back to the sarracenias. I'm thinking being eaten alive is maybe quicker than a slow drowning death in a pitcher plant. Or is the liquid inside a numbing agent, making you drown faster? You know, like fermented?

Read more: forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/64556/north-american-pitcher-plants-california?page=15#ixzz2zK3nUv12

I think that it has the same effect as the fellow that fell into Rick's beer vat. The leucs are famous for filling up with moths on bright moon nights.
to the point the pitchers fall over from their weight. Opening the pitchers and watching the moths walk around gives the impression they are
intoxicated. Or removing fire ants that are still alive from a pitcher rarely sting. So I am guessing they are poisoned or intoxicated.
S. Minor is that cruel one that has windows that deceives the bug into escape. After tiring from attempting to escape through the illusion it
then falls into the vat of digestive juice. By the way, S. Minor has the southern most territory. Guessing that it will take the heat best. It is one
of my favorites. Pretty colors and markings including the round windows of deception.

[jamesp]

Sarracenia Minor's range. Well into Florida to the north shore of Lake Okeechobee.



The Okefenokee swamp in south Georgia is home of the native giant S. Minor Okefenokeensis

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those okeefenokee's sure look like Darlingtonia from Kali-fornia.

Thanks for the pics!

[Deleted]

4/20 Update - plants but none of that weed anyway!

#1) this one will have red


#2) this is all green


#3) another red one reaching tall above the flower from the same plant. Just to the right is a wildflower of some form also reaching tall!