As I was going through cleaning and organizing my plants, I’ve found some neat goodies tucked away in the mess. I’m constantly being thrilled by these “re-discoveries” of plants and crosses that myself and others have done from years past. One of the plants that has been hiding out has a hidden mutation by design. Back on April 21, 2011 I crossed Sarracenia leucophylla “Purple Lips” x flava var. rubricorpora (cross by Phil Faulisi) as the pod parent with Sarracenia “Green Monster” (an anthocyanin free form of S. excellens) as the pollen parent. As a side note, the photo of S. leucophylla “Purple Lips” x flava var. rubricorpora that I used below was from earlier in the season – the plant eventually goes a beautiful solid deep red. I’ll try to get a good photo of it next season. It’s a truly spectacular plant.
What’s pretty fascinating about the offspring is that it contains a recessive, or as some others say – a “hidden” AF (anthocyanin free) gene. You can see the influence of both parents on the shape of the offspring. The colors are not accurate at this point in time as it has not received a spring or summer with strong light. As with everything else, it’s recovering and kinda lanky right now. Time will tell what this plant’s true colors and form will be like. What I really want to do is use the plants from this cross in future anthocyanin free breeding projects. When crossed with other AF recessive plants, or another AF plant, the anthocyanin free trait is unlocked and a certain percentage of the plants will exhibit the AF trait. Sweet! I know. This breeding stuff takes time, but it’s definitely worth it.
Sarracenia (leucophylla “Purple Lips” x flava var. rubricorpora)
x “Green Monster”
Sarracenia (leucophylla “Purple Lips” x flava var. rubricorpora)
x “Green Monster”
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