The first signs of spring, 2011

Finally, a chance to write my blog again! July has disappeared with work commitments, so I'm grateful to finally settle back into a more gentle rhythmn. Its deepest wintere here, and here is the view from our backyard to the Brindabella Ranges, 30 kilometers to the southwest. It stayed on the ground for a good week after I took this photo, with the last of it melting on 20 July. There is still snow on Mount Bimberi, the highest peak in the Australian Capital Territory, as I write this.

The Brindabella Ranges with freshly fallen snow. Left to right are Mount Gingera, Mt. Ginini and Mt. Franklin. The Drosera peltata site I visit is in the hills below Mount Ginini at Smoker's Gap (not visible).

Tree shrews, rats and Nepenthes rajah in pitcher perfect mutualism WITH VIDEO!

One of my science scanners picked up this absolutely wonderful article co-authored by Charles Clarke on mutualism between the magnificent Nepenthes rajah and two species of mammals. In summary, a species of tree shrew (Tupaia montana) and rat (Rattus baluensis) both defecate into Nepenthes rajah pitchers while feeding on sugary secretions produced on the underside of the pitcher's lid. This type of behaviour has previously been demonstrated for N. lowii (link one and link two to the original research papers for N. lowii).

The full article (and a .pdf of the research paper) is freely available from this link:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0021114

Also be sure to see the high-resolution image of Rattus baluensis feeding on a N. rajah pitcher here (a very high resolution, 9 MB .tiff file is also downloadable from this link).

As if the research article and photograph were not enough, Charles was also good enough to upload three videos of Tupaia montana in action on pitchers of N. rajah and N. macrophylla onto youtube. They are embedded below for your viewing pleasure.

Nepenthes rajah video one:


Nepenthes rajah video two:


Nepenthes macrophylla:



IMPORTANT NOTICE: COPYRIGHT OF THESE VIDEOS REMAINS THAT OF YOTUBE USER clarke2469. THEY ARE REPRODUCED HERE AS ALLOWED BY THE EMBED FUNCTION OFFERED BY YOUTUBE AND BLOGGER AND THE RESPECTIVE EULAs OF BOTH ORGANISATIONS. COPYRIGHT OF ALL ORIGINAL RESEARCH LINKED TO FROM THIS PAGE ALSO REMAINS WITH THE PUBLISHER AND/OR RESPECTIVE AUTHORS. THE OVERALL COPYRIHT DISCLAIMER FOR THIS BLOG THEREFORE DOES NOT APPLY TO THE VIDEOS IN THE BLOG ENTRY BEARING THIS MESSAGE BY ORDER OF BLOG ADMIN.

Winter rhizome maintenance and pruning

Sarracenia produce all their new growth from a modified stem called a rhizome. Although rhizomes may not immediately look like a stem, they have all the characteristics of one - a growing tip or bud and secondary growth points or nodes that develop all the way along the stem. Depending on where the nodes are, and what the plant needs, they may produce either roots or new growing points. Because all growth comes from the rhizome, they need to be carefully maintained for full growth. The best time to do this is winter, when your plant is dormant and new growth can not be damaged.

Here is a photo essay of maintenance I perform on all my plants during winter.

Sarracenica flava var rugellii before being cleaned up for next spring.

Sarracenia flava var. flava - ex Triffid Park

Data at a glance...
Latin name                           Sarracenia flava var. flava
Clone name                          Triffid Park var. flava
Acquired                               2009, ex Triffid Park open day
Pitcher flush pattern            Many: many: P (Sp: Su: Au) 
Growth strength                   Strong
Division types                      Flower and rhizome division noted

This rather magnificent plant is considered by some to be a S. flava var. rugellii, but because the red throat blotch extends onto the hood as veins, it is properly a S. flava var. flava. Even so, the intensity and coverage of the throat blotch is simply remarkable. Emphasising these features is the truly narrow throat that makes this plant just so beautiful. It is also a very good grower that, once settled in, splits reliably and puts on a good show of pitchers through all of spring and summer. The photos above are of the plant in spring 2010, but its rhizome swelled from all the insects caught during summer and is now twice the size shown above. It should look magnificent this spring!

Sarracenia flava var. rubricorpora - Gotcha! Giant

Data at a glance...
Latin name                           Sarracenia flava var. rubricorpora
Clone name                          Gotcha! Giant
Acquired                               2009, ex Gotcha! Plants at the Queensland Garden Expo, Nambour
Pitcher flush pattern            1-2: 1: P (Sp: Su: Au) 
Growth strength                   Strong, but weak pitcher production
Division types                      Flower and rhizome division noted, but not regular

Gotcha! Giant is the biggest S. flava var rubricorpora I have seen in cultivation within Australia. Mature plants produce truly massive pitchers, which regularly reach well over 90 cm (3 feet), if not higher. My plant was obtained as a cutting, so it still has a while to go yet. Another curious thing about this plant is its hood, which leans forwards over the mouth of the pitcher because the throat is actually angled forwards. Even with this obstruction, it is an adept insect catcher. Unfortunately, it is a little on the slow side to grow, with only a few pitchers produced per year. It is also slow to divide, so it is not a plant for the impatient. Despite this, it ranks high on my list of favourites for its impressive size.