BACPS	Bulletin
	April 2005

Next Meeting: SUNDAY May 1, 2005

by Stephen Davis

Date: May 1, 2005
Location: UC Botanical Garden, Berkeley
Program Topic: Nicholas Matzke on "Evolution of Utricularia"
Schedule:

We will try a Sunday meeting as several people have noted that sports keep many families from attending meetings.

Nicholas Matzke, from the National Center for Science Education, will be giving a presentation on the unlikely evolution of the Utricularia. Nic gives the argument that Utricularia evolved from an extinct species of pitcher plant in the Lentibulariaceae. This is a presentation that Judith attended recently and found to be amazingly interesting and presented in a very entertaining way. Nic has found a way to show his research so everyone can understand and enjoy it.

There will, of course, be plants for sale and trade. We hope to have another raffle the size of the last one, and also a beginners corner for the new people.

Drosera pauciflora

by Glenn Rankin

I got my Drosera pauciflora many years ago from Carl Wong of the BACPS. I grow it out in the back yard (I'm in Menlo Park) using the usual tray method for watering. It gets down to freezing temperatures in the winter. I've tried various soils over the years (sand and peat, sphagnum and a local siltstone gravel, etc.), and sometimes it grows well for a while and sometimes not.

Some years the rosette survives the summer, but most of the time it completely dies back in August or September and comes back from its thick roots a couple of months later.

About three years ago it didn't come back in a couple of months, so I dumped the pot and checked the soil. Apparently, I had kept it too wet and the roots all rotted out. I couldn't find any white fleshy pieces that it could grow back from. Not wanting to give up on it, I put the soil back in the pot and kept it slightly damp, but not wet for the next year or so. My hope was rewarded with two small sprouts finally coming back. At that point I promised it I would pay more attention to what it wanted. Now, in late summer I start to let it grow a little drier so the roots don't completely rot when it tries to go dormant.

I'm now growing it in a tall deli cup that stays wet at the bottom, but can dry out some at the top. The current medium is about 50%/50% volume long grain sphagnum and laterite gravel (SeaChem Fluorite from the tropical fish store -- I'm finding this is a good substrate for plants that survive the summer with fleshy roots or tubers).

Late last summer one of the two rosettes started to wilt, and I dug around to find the connection to the roots had rotted, so I took most of it and buried it deeper so it wouldn't dry out before it could grow more roots. I also carefully cut off four leaves at their bases and put them in a small jar filled with water and long grain sphagnum (to help keep the leaves from rotting and also to support them near the surface so they can breathe a little). After one or two months with about three to four hours of sun a day, three of the leaves rotted, but one of them first developed a red spot and then a plantlet. So currently I have four rosettes that are doing very well: 1) from the leaf cutting, 2) from the rosette that lost its root and I replanted deeper, 3) from a deeper root that used to be attached, and 4) the other rosette that was in the pot last summer and never went dormant.

A number of years back it flowered, and I remember pollinating it and getting seeds that were viable, but a hot summer killed the seedlings off.

As you can see, this year it flowered again the first week in April. The flower was 2 1/4" in diameter, the rosette was 1 3/4" in diameter, and the stalk was 8" tall. After taking the pictures, I took a soft paintbrush and pollinated. Not apparent from the photos is a second bud that flowered a week later. In both cases the flower only lasted in good shape for one day. On the next day they could spread the mostly wilted petals only a small way.

One of the wilted flower buds is soft and without volume, but the other feels fat, so hopefully I can try growing some from seed again this year.

So, in summary, it's an interesting and forgiving plant. You should try growing it if you get a chance. The flowers are glorious!

Bug Day is April 30

by Stephen Davis

Unfortunately, nobody was able to host Bug Day and educate people about carnivorous plants at the Randall Museum. If anyone is interested in going, it will still be a fun event.

Download Bug Day flyer

Plant Show Volunteers Needed!

by Stephen Davis

I would like to organize some committees for the Plant Show this year. Time and commitment will be minimal, but I do need some people to commit to handling some key items:

1. Registration: Pretty simple, and just a couple of hours in the morning needed. We need several people to run the sign-in, and a few people to set up the tables and make sure the right plants get to the right places
2. Plant sales coordinator: Someone to tell sellers where they are to be located and make sure they have everything they need.
3. Guest information table: Make sure all our brochures are on a table out front as people enter.
4. Auctions and raffles: Need to make sure we keep to the schedule. Set up display of auction and raffle plants.

This is a lot of fun to do. It's informal, and everyone has a great time! Most people came up to me after the show and wished they had been more involved as what they did do was fun.

Images of Spring

by Stephen Davis

Sarracenia flava	Drosophyllum lusitanicum (Dewy pine)

The BACPS Bulletin serves as a monthly forum for members to make CP-related announcements: events, want ads, items for sale, information sought, growing tips, etc. Submissions must be received by Tony Gridley (tgridley@comcast.net) by the 23rd of the month prior to publication.