'^- 



-J*. 



flooded sand pits, and other areas with wet, acid soil 

 and full sun. Perhaps, the least familiar of our local car- 

 nivores are the aquatic bladderworts, species of Utricu- 

 laha, which are named after the microscopic traps that 

 catch very small aquatic animals. The animals are caught 

 when they come too close to the traps' trigger hairs and 

 are sucked into the traps as the traps rapidly open, 

 often in just fractions of a second. Bladderworts in our 

 area produce small bright-yellow or purple flowers. Gar- 

 ret Crow of UNH's Plant Biology Department published a 

 key to identify these plants. Never dig up and try to 

 grow our local carnivorous plants. Besides damaging rare 

 habitats, most local species will die in cultivation be- 

 cause their winter dormancy requirements are difficult to 

 provide for. 



More information about North American carnivorous 

 plants (plus beautiful photographs and growing instruc- 

 tions) is included in Don Schnell's 1976 book, Carnivorous 

 Plants of tfie United States and Canada. You should be able 

 to borrow a copy at your local library through interli- 

 brary loan. In his book, Don describes the spectacular 

 upright pitcher plants of the coastal plain in southeast- 

 ern United States. One species in particular, Sarracenia 

 leucopkylla, with its tall, red-veined, white-topped pitch- 

 ers, is occasionally seen in floral arrangements. In the 

 southeast and in Canada are found the butterworts, spe- 

 cies of Pingukula, with greasy leaves that act like living 

 flypaper. The Pacific Northwest, particularly boggy areas 

 with cool running water, is the lair of the cobra lily, 

 Darlingtonia. These plants, which are reminiscent of cobra 

 snakes with upraised heads, supposedly lure insects 

 with highly colored and sugar-coated tongue-like ap- 

 pendages forked like fish tails, and then trick them into 

 trying to escape through an opening to the sky which, in 

 a fiendish twist, turns out to be only skylights in a 

 pitcher-shaped trap from which there is no escape. 



The carnivorous plants of North America have one 

 thing in common with carnivorous plants in other parts 

 of the world: the traps are actually highly modified leaves. 

 Plants with pitcher traps occur on several continents. On 

 the tops of cloud-enshrouded high plateaus in northeast 

 South America are found the sun pitchers, Heliamphora. In 



the southwestern corner of Australia live small, hairy 

 pitcher plants called Cepkalotus. Many enthusiasts, includ- 

 ing myself, feel that more amazing than VFTs are the 

 carnivorous vines. Nepenthes, which occur on mountains 

 and rain forests primarily in the East Indies. The traps 

 which come in a mesmerizing array of colors and shapes, 

 grow at the end of normal-looking leaves on tendrils 

 and can be as big as a football. Growing the more than 

 80 species and their many hybrids was a craze in the 

 stovehouses of Victorian England. Because some species 

 of Nepenthes are quite rare and demand from collectors 

 is high, all international trade in these and some other 

 carnivorous plants is prohibited by international conven- 

 tion. In early August, I was standing in line at a depart- 

 ment store in Dover and spotted some plants for sale in 

 small plastic covered pots. Two turned out to be a spe- 

 cies of Nepenthes from Madagascar! Fortunately, the 

 plants had been propagated by tissue culture. 



Although carnivorous plants may be found worldwide, 

 a high percentage of the species may be grown in the 

 same conditions: wet, acid soil poor in nutrients, high 

 humidity, and bright light. These conditions can be du- 

 plicated to some extent in terrariums under fluorescent 

 lights (as 1 grow them) or in greenhouses. A small collec- 

 tion of these plants can be viewed by the public in the 

 UNH Greenhouses. For budding enthusiasts more infor- 

 mation about CP's can be found in the quarterly Car- 

 nivorous Plant Newsletter ("CPN") published by the 

 ICPS. The address is ICPS, c/o Fullerton Arboretum, 

 CSUF, Fullerton, CA 92634. Once a year, CPN publishes 

 a list of books and a list of the specialized mail order 

 nurseries that sell some of the more unusual species. 

 More and more information, including an active email 

 list, is becoming available on the Internet. The best web 

 page to start with is at the URL: http://www.hpl.hp.com/ 

 bot/cp_home/. Next year the ICPS is planning to hold 

 the first international meeting on carnivorous plants at 

 the Atlanta Botanical Garden in May. Good growing! 



David iMne, Biological Sciences Librarian, Biological Sciences 

 Library, Kendall Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, 

 NH 03824-3590, can be reached at 603-862-3718. 



t'—^'^UDDl 



JVm^e^SaiBSL 



supplying Nursery stock for 

 Landscape contractors & Garden centers 

 from many excellent growers 



Call us to Discuss Your Needs 



P.O. Box 64 Mdndoe Falls, VT 05050 



Distributor of: 



Tree 



o 



Saver 



Tree Staking System 

 Finally, a staking system that solves all 



your staking problems. 



Safe Reliable Safe for Tree 



Quick to install Cost-effective 



Tel. 800-639-1722 



FAX 802-633-2349 



26 



THE PLANTSM AN 



