A garden's chronicles


Welcome,
At the times of social networks, starting a blog might be considered old-fashioned in a way but this is pretty convenient to share in a same place all my obsessions and creations.
"Strange fruits" is mainly focused on carnivorous plants as it is my main center of interest at the moment. You will thus find infos on the plants I grow, my cultivation techniques, my travels, updates on my research and publications as a taxonomist, reports on CP meetings, CP books reviews and much more. You will also find a lot of stuff linked to literature, music, entomology and drawing. I do hope you will find here a couple of interesting things.
Remember that this is a blog. Therefore, you are all welcome to share thoughts and comments.


François Sockhom Mey

Friday, July 22, 2011

Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa var. burkii or Sarracenia rosea?

I think this is the taxon I observed in Apalachicola Forest along with Sarracenia flava and S. psittacina. If I am wrong, please let me know (via a comment to this post or a mail).

So should we talk about venosa var. burkii or rosea, a species on its own? Frankly, I don't know what to think about this recurrent discussion because I'm no Sarracenia expert. I did not thorougly examined the descriptions and supposed differences between this taxon and Sarracenia purpurea ssp. purpurea. And even if I did, I am in no position to state anything, even if this does not prevent me to have my own opinion. The truth is that I don't have one.
Should the differences of ssp. venosa var. burkii /rosea being strong enough to support a specific rank, I don't know. I have discussed this matter with knowledgeable people and both sides have convincing arguments. I'd love to see both taxa in the wild which I didn't.
In the meanwhile, I was glad I observed  ssp. venosa var. burkii /rosea in the Apalachicola Forest last week. Like the other prostrated species, Sarracenia psittacina, this species is not easy to notice in the wild. At least, in the type of habitats I prospected. Luckily, I have been, again, helped in my search by the clear presence of short flower scapes.




It is easier to admire the plant once I put away most of the grasses.




At this time of the year, the flowers have withered but the scapes are still hard. You can notice some Drosera (filiformis var.) tracyi in the background.




The habitat, sandy meadows, really reminds me of the savannahs where I encounter pyrophytic Nepenthes of the N. thorelii aggregate in Indochina. It still amazes me to see how similar habitats are shared by different plants in completely different parts of the globe.

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