S. flava var. rugelii (GIANT?) Colquitt Co, GA
May 24, 2022 15:18:46 GMT -5
stevebooth, alexis, and 4 more like this
Post by meizzwang on May 24, 2022 15:18:46 GMT -5
Some of you may know that the famous registered cultivar, Sarracenia flava var. rugelii 'Bob Hanrahan': sarracenia.proboards.com/thread/4510/flava-rugelii-bob-hanrahan originated from a site in Colquitt Co, GA. If you didn't know, now you know, and knowing is 78.65% of the battle. G.I. Joe. Anyways, I believe that clone is a genetic giant, meaning it's a slow grower, but once the rhizome gets enormous and the plant reaches vegetative maturity, with the right environmental conditions, it can produce gigantic traps!
The late Bob Hanrahan had a decent sized population of rugelii's from Colquitt Co, GA, and one of those divisions were sent to CAlifornia Carnivores, which eventually became the named clone S. Bob Hanrahan. Those rugeliis typically only produce spring/summer traps, and when they did, they were reportedly the largest flavas on Bob's plantation. Fast-forward many years later, I acquired some genetic material from his original population and have grown out several clones. Out of maybe 20 plants, 2 of them so far are doing pretty well in my climate, so I'm keeping an eye on them! They're slow like the registered cultivar, but they don't stall and grow only phyllodia all season long, they actually pitcher up year after year!
One promising trait is that the red throat colors up relatively easily, even on somewhat small traps! For those of you who have grown out rugelii's, it's hard to find good clones that perform well in cultivation. In nature, it seems like every single plant out there is impressive, but for whatever reason, we really have to pheno hunt to find the good ones that perform well ex situ.
I think this clone is a giant because of it's genetic history, but only time will tell if that is correct. While I don't see this clone becoming the next best thing since sliced bread, I do see it as a building block from which we can improve the species and produce plants that do well in cultivation! Georgia rugelii genotypes are very special and relatively hard to come by, so I think we need to pay close attention to them and to their potential!
S. flava var. rugelii 'select' (GIANT?) Colquitt Co, GA, pics taken 5/20/22:
Very well defined red throat with a little bit of red creeping under the lid:
The late Bob Hanrahan had a decent sized population of rugelii's from Colquitt Co, GA, and one of those divisions were sent to CAlifornia Carnivores, which eventually became the named clone S. Bob Hanrahan. Those rugeliis typically only produce spring/summer traps, and when they did, they were reportedly the largest flavas on Bob's plantation. Fast-forward many years later, I acquired some genetic material from his original population and have grown out several clones. Out of maybe 20 plants, 2 of them so far are doing pretty well in my climate, so I'm keeping an eye on them! They're slow like the registered cultivar, but they don't stall and grow only phyllodia all season long, they actually pitcher up year after year!
One promising trait is that the red throat colors up relatively easily, even on somewhat small traps! For those of you who have grown out rugelii's, it's hard to find good clones that perform well in cultivation. In nature, it seems like every single plant out there is impressive, but for whatever reason, we really have to pheno hunt to find the good ones that perform well ex situ.
I think this clone is a giant because of it's genetic history, but only time will tell if that is correct. While I don't see this clone becoming the next best thing since sliced bread, I do see it as a building block from which we can improve the species and produce plants that do well in cultivation! Georgia rugelii genotypes are very special and relatively hard to come by, so I think we need to pay close attention to them and to their potential!
S. flava var. rugelii 'select' (GIANT?) Colquitt Co, GA, pics taken 5/20/22:
Very well defined red throat with a little bit of red creeping under the lid: