Tag Archives: Sarracenia Hybrid

Sarracenia + Light Painting

So, this past weekend, I finally was able to get a chance to go out and do some night photography around San Francisco with my good friend and bro, Ron. (Thanks for kickin’ it, bro!)  We didn’t do much painting with lights, but we did get a chance to do a lot of great night time San Francisco city scape shots.  Just a couple shots below…

There’s something so poetically metaphorical about photographing  the beauty of light while everything else is darkness. While we were out shooting, I was reminded of a photo I took in 2009 of a grouping of my Sarracenias in the dark — with an added LED flashlight of course! Ah yes, Sarracenias are a bright spot for me, indeed.

09-19-10[Sept 19, 2010 – Pacific Heights from Alta Vista Park, San Francisco]

09-19-10
[Sept 19, 2010 – Painted Ladies in the Night, Alamo Square, San Francisco]

***
And a photo of Sarracenias and random LED light painting/scribbles.
Hmm… I should do this more often with the Sarrs…

Sarracenia Light Painting[Sarracenia in the dark + LED lights randomly waved about, 2009]

Hangin' out

As I was sorting out some seedlings a couple weeks back, I discovered one of the pitcher plants kinda … hangin’ out.  Well, that thing on it was hangin’ out.

This is a 2 1/2 year old seed grown clone of S. rubra ssp. wherryi “Chatom Giant” x “Sky watcher” (cross created by Brooks Garcia) – what impresses me with this plant is that — that thing. You know,  that long thing on the hood. Reminds me of an angler or something. 🙂  Now, not all the crosses from this grex look the same, (grex is just a geeky way of saying the plants that came from the same hybrid group):  some have elongated lids,  some are showing more color, some are  exhibiting more flared hoods from the S. “Sky watcher” parentage — but they all look interesting.  I hope that it gets some of that size from it’s rubra ssp. wherryi “Chatom Giant” as it matures.  Yeah. 😉

Sarracenia rubra ssp. wheryii x "Skywatcher"[Sarracenia rubra ssp. wherryi “Chatom Giant” x “Sky Watcher”]

Perspective

You ever wonder what it would be like to see Sarracenia from a bugs point of view?  Sarracenia catesbaei gives us some perspective…

perspective[Photo: A bugs point of view – inside Sarracenia catesbaei]

Another Reptile Crossing!

Happy weekend everyone!  Hope your weekends are going well!

Here’s a seedling that was created by Dr. Travis Wyman. It’s yet another Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ hybrid. This one is  another clone of S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ x leucophylla “pale”.  There’s a few other photos of its siblings from an earlier post – (Reptile Crossing).

What strikes me about this particular seedling is that the lips are still staying green, even in strong light.  When the light hits the nectar roll at just the right angle, it also can also seem to have a slight blueish-green hue to it.   I hope that the angular features of the parent plant get more amplified as it matures on this particular plant.  A green angular peristome (nectar roll) would mos’ def be pretty awesome!

S. 'Reptilian Rose' x leucophylla "pale"[Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x leucophylla “pale” – cross created by Dr. Travis Wyman]

Sarracenia rubra ssp. gulfensis "black" x "Bug Bat"

Happy Friday! Happy weekend indeed! YEAH! So here’s another intriguing cross I did last year.  Again, the seedling is putting up some pitchers that are showing some character now. I was out in the yard the other morning and found this particular plant pretty durn interesting as the morning sun was hitting the pitchers.  It’s exhibiting the characteristic color of it’s S. rubra ssp. gulfensis “black” parent and the very interesting Sarracenia “Bug Bat”.

(Ok – side note for all you Sarracenia-heads: there has been some question regarding the pod parent – there is speculation that it is not a pure S. rubra ssp. gulfensis and could have some S. alata mixed into it.  However, from what I am told – this particular S. rubra hails from the Yellow River area of  Florida, and it is doubtful that S. alatas grow that far east.)

Sarracenia rubra "black" x "Bug Bat"[Sarracenia rubra ssp. gulfensis “Black” x “Bug Bat”]

Nerdy Pollen Storage

Hope everyone found Brook Garcia’s pollination tutorial helpful! I sure did!  Again, everyone has their own methods and variations on how to pollinate. My suggestion is — do whatever works best for you! Don’t be afraid to try new things.  Anyway, so in 2009 when I wanted to store the pollen to create crosses with plants that don’t bloom at the same time, I figured I could store pollen in little containers that were available at a local craft store.  I didn’t really want to keep the pollen on a q-tip as I wanted to be able to spread that pollen around to more plants. Saving the pollen in the container would allow me a little bit more control. So being the uber plant nerd I am — I stored the pollen.  Actually, it was fellow grower and friend Jacob Farin who called me a Sarracenia nerd when he saw what I was doing. (OK, yes, I am a Sarracenia nerd. I admit. And I’m PROUD!! YEAH!!)

Yes, that is correct. I stored the pollen.

In little pollen containers.

In a pollen case.

In the pollen storage section of my fridge.

Next to the bacon. You MUST store it next to bacon. If you didn’t know, pollen storage next to bacon actually keeps it viable longer.

(Actually — the fridge keeps the pollen viable longer, not the bacon. But yes, eat bacon. It is good for you.)

You can’t really see it in the photo, but I did tag those cases so I knew what pollen was being used. Good record keeping is key, and organization is a good practice.

When it came time for the pod parent to open up and bloom –  I just simply took my uber-nerdy pollen case and my even more super uber-nerdy pollen brushes and pollinated away!   Here’s a photo from April 2009 of my “Sarracenia Pollen Palette”.

Sarracenia nerdy indeed![A Sarracenia Pollen Palette. It’s nerdy. But it works.]

How to Pollinate a Sarracenia Flower

The following tutorial was written by Brooks Garcia. It is a great reference for pollinating Sarracenia flowers. This guide was what I first ran across (posted on Terraforums) a few years ago when I first started to grow Sarracenia and wanted to get into hybridizing.  I know that everyone has their own preferences, variation, and methods for pollinating, but I found the below to be a clear and concise guide that helped my Sarracenia addiction really bloom. Thanks Brooks!

***

How to Pollinate a Sarracenia Flower
By Brooks Garcia

This is a rather simple procedure but certain precautions need to be taken to insure that: 1) You are successful and 2) You avoid possible contamination from unwanted pollen. Timing is the key here especially if you want to cross species that typically do not bloom at the same time ( i.e. flava x psittacina). With practice and keen observation you will be able to gauge when a flower needs to be protected and when to transfer the pollen.

Necessary Equipment

* Light weight fabric or tulle/bridal veil netting
* Light weight string
* Thin stakes (if needed)
* Q-tips
* Masking tape
* Sharpie permanent marker
* Scissors

Tools You Need
SuppliesNeeded


Flower Structure

We need to discuss the flower structure before hand so you can be familiar with the flower parts and how they function.

Sarracenia in Flower
Photo1

Sarracenias are designed to prevent self pollination by their very structure. The petals are the colorful parts that attract bees and protect the pollen inside the flower from rain and wind. *The anthers produce the pollen and are in the “roof” of the flower and drop pollen onto the style. The style is the upside-down umbrella that has the 5 stigma (female receptors) and catches the pollen. *The stigmas are the ‘hooks’ or slight protrusions on the points of the style which are outside the flower away from the pollen. A bee lands on the sepals (stiff, petal-like structures), crawls down the petals and enters the flower by crossing over the points on the style between the petals thus getting pollen from a previously visited flower on the stigma. The bee gathers the nectar in the flower getting this flower’s pollen on its body and exits the flower through the “dip” in the style and under the petal thus avoiding getting pollen on the stigmas. Look at a flower closely or pull one apart to understand these dynamics.

Flower Parts
800px-Sarracenia_flower_notitles.svg copy
(image courtesy of  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sarracenia_flower_notitles.svg, author: Noah Elhardt)

Step One: Protecting the Flower

You will need to visit a fabric store and buy a tight-knit, light-weight fabric or tulle/ bridal veil netting. Light weight is very important because you don’t want your flower stalk bending under the weight of wet material after a rain. Staking the flower stalk is an option as well on weak-stemmed species like rubras. The netting will only be needed until the pollen has been set and until shortly after the petals have fallen off. Then the netting can be removed.  This is where keen observation is handy but err on the side of caution and “bag” your flower before the petals have fully opened.  How will you know?  The petals will still be cupped close to the style.  The photo below shows the flower fully open and at this point on this particular flower, the pollen has begun to drop onto the style. It should have been bagged sooner.

Flower Fully Open

The style is the five lobed structure that is the bottom of the flower. This contains the female parts of the flower, 5 stigma in all. On the smaller species (rubras and psittacinas), the flowers are going to be quite small and two people maybe needed to carry this out; a small artist’s paint brush maybe a better tool than a Q-tip for gathering and transferring pollen. Cut a large enough square of netting to cover the flower loosely and be tied with the string. I start at the back of the flower and tuck the fabric between the stem and the back of the sepals. The sepals are the stiff parts that are left after the petals drop. Then wrap the flower loosely and tie it off until you are ready to pollinate the flower.

Bagging Procedure

After each pollination session, secure the netting until the petals have dropped and the flower tilts upward.

Step Two: Collecting Pollen and Cross Pollination

You will need to check the flower every day to see if the pollen has developed and begun to drop onto the style from the anthers. It will look like small pale yellow particles. Pollen will drop for several days up to a week and can be gathered off the anthers if necessary. The anthers, the male parts, are in the top of the flower inside under the petals. Untie the netting and carefully unwrap the flower. Take a Q-tip and very carefully lift a petal.

Lifting Petal to Expose Flower Parts

Through the “dip” in the style, insert the Q-tip and roll it between your fingers to gather the pollen on the cotton. Withdraw it carefully. Take the Q-tip with the pollen to the flower you wish to cross (you have unwrapped this flower as well) hold the stem of the flower and touch the Q-tip to the stigma. *Remember this is protruding between the petals, and roll the Q-tip up the stigma lightly.

Transferring Pollen

Be sure to do all 5 stigmas. Each stigma has a tube in which the pollen will grow down to reach the unfertilized embryonic seeds in the ovary. Each chamber in the ovary is capable of holding 100 seeds. Re-bag each flower and repeat the process the next day for three of four times to insure fertilization takes. A sure sign you have been successful is that the petals drop and the whole flower tilts up and the ovary swells.

Successfully Fertilized Flower Pod

If you want to pollinate a plant that is not in bloom yet, pollen can be saved in the refrigerator on a Q-tip in a plastic bag or wrapped in foil for several weeks until the flower comes into bloom. To “self” a plant, simply take the pollen and apply it to the stigmas. Reportedly, Sarracenias do not “self” very well for some reason but with multiple applications of pollen you should get good seed set. I label the cross by simply wrapping a piece of masking tape on the flower stem with the name of the pollen donor (father). This may have to be replaced once before the seed ripens in the fall. When labeling the plant produced, the pollen receiver is shown first. It is not necessary to wait until the seed capsule breaks open or turns brown to collect the seeds. Seeds are usually fully ripe by mid September.

Now, ain’t plant sex grand!? Good growing!