Sarracenia alata flowers (pictures)
Apr 17, 2018 16:13:00 GMT -5
rmeyer, gotsarrs, and 3 more like this
Post by meizzwang on Apr 17, 2018 16:13:00 GMT -5
Well, we had a thread on the diversity of S. flava flowers, so now it's time to switch gears and focus on another species: S. alata aka the pale pitcher plant! Just like all other species, S. alata flowers mostly look similar to each other, but if you look very carefully, you can see slight differences from one clone to another, and from one population to the next.
There are many color forms of S. alata, and just like S. flava, I'm starting to suspect that these color forms may have come from historic crossing with other species. As we discussed in the flava flower thread, there may be more to it than just out-crossing and back crossing. Interestingly enough, there are many S. alata populations in the wild that live with other Sarracenia species such as S. psittacina, S. leucophylla, and S. rosea to name a few. In Texas, there are populations that do not "mingle" with other species, so if they have always been isolated from other species and hybridization is the only means of producing color forms, there should theoretically be no color forms in those isolated populations. I doubt that's the case, but my knowledge of texan alatas is very limited.
Timing-wise, S. alata blooms relative to the weather and very specific microclimates. As mentioned in another post, even plants growing in the same community tray can experience a different microclimates.
In general, if it's been warm all winter long with mild low temperatures, you can expect them to bloom early, and in contrast, if it's cold overall, they'll bloom relatively later. Since you can't say "they'll bloom Feb. 14th of ever year," a good way to describe blooming time is to compare them to other species growing in the same environmental conditions. Under my conditions, S. alata blooms right after S. flava has bloomed out (of course, there are outliars and I still have a few straggler flavas blooming at the same time, but you get the point). Similarly, the majority of S. leucophyllas bloom at the same time as S. alata, which is why you see a lot of naturally occurring hybrids in the wild where both species are present.
For the Sarracenia alata photos below, I'll try to give location data and general details of each clone to give you an idea of what you're looking at. Feel free to add pics of your S. alata blooms to this post if you'd like! Photos taken 4/17/18:
S. alata black MKA28 Stone Co, MS:
Same flower, zoomed out a bit:
Older bloom, same plant. Notice how the petals fan out slightly compared to the younger flowers(pics above), where the petals look more like they're dangling:
S. alata 'black' MKA28 Stone Co, MS. Interestingly enough, the first trap opened even while the flowers are open, but the flowers are much lower to the ground:
S. alata black MKA58, Stone Co, MS. Notice the red pigments on the sepals. The pitchers on this clone haven't yet opened at this stage:
S. alata St. Tammany Parish, LA:
St. Tammany Parish, LA, interesting blush on the petals. These traps are all greenish-yellow, never seen them change color:
St. Tammany Parish, LA:
S. alata Mobile Co, AL. Notice the open pitchers during the blooming period:
Mobile Co, AL:
and another shot of S. alata from Mobile Co, AL:
Got a few more pics to upload, will update this thread when I have time!
There are many color forms of S. alata, and just like S. flava, I'm starting to suspect that these color forms may have come from historic crossing with other species. As we discussed in the flava flower thread, there may be more to it than just out-crossing and back crossing. Interestingly enough, there are many S. alata populations in the wild that live with other Sarracenia species such as S. psittacina, S. leucophylla, and S. rosea to name a few. In Texas, there are populations that do not "mingle" with other species, so if they have always been isolated from other species and hybridization is the only means of producing color forms, there should theoretically be no color forms in those isolated populations. I doubt that's the case, but my knowledge of texan alatas is very limited.
Timing-wise, S. alata blooms relative to the weather and very specific microclimates. As mentioned in another post, even plants growing in the same community tray can experience a different microclimates.
In general, if it's been warm all winter long with mild low temperatures, you can expect them to bloom early, and in contrast, if it's cold overall, they'll bloom relatively later. Since you can't say "they'll bloom Feb. 14th of ever year," a good way to describe blooming time is to compare them to other species growing in the same environmental conditions. Under my conditions, S. alata blooms right after S. flava has bloomed out (of course, there are outliars and I still have a few straggler flavas blooming at the same time, but you get the point). Similarly, the majority of S. leucophyllas bloom at the same time as S. alata, which is why you see a lot of naturally occurring hybrids in the wild where both species are present.
For the Sarracenia alata photos below, I'll try to give location data and general details of each clone to give you an idea of what you're looking at. Feel free to add pics of your S. alata blooms to this post if you'd like! Photos taken 4/17/18:
S. alata black MKA28 Stone Co, MS:
Same flower, zoomed out a bit:
Older bloom, same plant. Notice how the petals fan out slightly compared to the younger flowers(pics above), where the petals look more like they're dangling:
S. alata 'black' MKA28 Stone Co, MS. Interestingly enough, the first trap opened even while the flowers are open, but the flowers are much lower to the ground:
S. alata black MKA58, Stone Co, MS. Notice the red pigments on the sepals. The pitchers on this clone haven't yet opened at this stage:
S. alata St. Tammany Parish, LA:
St. Tammany Parish, LA, interesting blush on the petals. These traps are all greenish-yellow, never seen them change color:
St. Tammany Parish, LA:
S. alata Mobile Co, AL. Notice the open pitchers during the blooming period:
Mobile Co, AL:
and another shot of S. alata from Mobile Co, AL:
Got a few more pics to upload, will update this thread when I have time!