|
BACPS | Newsletter |
| Fall 2008 |
| Next Meeting: Saturday, January 24, 2009 |
| Meeting Minutes | |
| New CP Display at California Academy of Sciences | |
| Treasurer's Report | |
| Fall Photos | |
| Upcoming Events | |
The University of California Botanical Garden, |
by Geoff Wong
Location: UC Botanical Garden, Berkeley
Program: Panel Discussion on Pest Control, Disease Control, and Fertilization
Time: Noon-4:00 p.m.
This meeting will feature a panel discussion on pest control, fungus control, and fertilization. It promises to be a lively and informative discussion on a subject that everyone should find relevant. Several well-known CP horticulture professionals will be on hand to share their knowledge: Peter D'Amato (California Carnivores), Judith Finn (formerly at University of California Botanical Garden), Kristen Natoli (California Academy of Sciences), Barry Rice (Nature Conservancy), and Mike Wang (formerly at Nurseryman's Exchange). The audience will be invited to contribute their experiences and questions.
Please bring plants for the show and tell table. For this meeting, examples are especially encouraged that illustrate pest or disease damage; nutrient deficiency or toxicity; and effects of pesticide, fungicide, or fertilizer. Sick plants may be brought in for examination by the "plant doctors" (as long as you take the plants back home!).
Donations are gratefully appreciated for the raffle and auction, which are our major fundraisers. Members are also welcome to bring in plants to sell or auction (10% of proceeds go to BACPS). FYI, we have received the following donations for the auction:
We're trying out a refreshments table and are asking everyone to bring a snack or drink to share. As a token of our appreciation, donors will receive a free raffle ticket.
For directions to the Botanical Garden, visit their website, http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu.
Note: Fernando Rividavia's talk on the CP of Africa has been postponed due to a last-minute change in his work schedule.
by Judith Finn
November 15, 2008
Location: University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley
Attendance: 55
Geoff Wong informed the audience that the January talk would be given by Fernando Rivadavia with the caveat that his work schedule may interfere, and so, in case he cannot join us, an alternate panel will be set up to discuss pest problems, fungicides, and fertilizers for carnivorous plants.
Joe Mazrimas thanked everyone for their help, especially with clean-up, at our annual CP show at the Vista Room at Lake Merritt's Lakeside Park Garden Center. Next year's show will tentatively take place in June on the 20th or 27th. The show will be from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The vendors, though, should leave by 5:00 so that we do not run late and have to deal with overtime charges for the rental space. Watch our website for updates.
Geoff Wong informed us that the Bromeliad Society had suggested that we
could share expenses with them if we had our shows together at the S.F.
County Building at the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park.
This would be an alternate venue to our Oakland Lakeside Park location.
Larry Logoteta greeted the seven new members and announced that we should have an active members list so that people who show up for any of the next three meetings will be considered active members. Larry then ran an extremely quick election of officers, giving everyone another term.
This organization is all run by people willing to volunteer some of their time. If any member can offer any assistance in putting on programs, doing outreach, or wanting to be an officer or on the board, please make yourself known to Bill Weaver.
Stephen Davis, our president of many years, reminded us about the annual San Francisco Flower and Garden Show held in the spring. They were so pleased with our display and participation last March that they have invited us back again for 2009. The venue is changed from the Cow Palace to the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. Last year we had hundreds of Venus flytraps donated for the children to pot up and take home. We had CP images for kids to color and wonderful gigantic models of VFT and Heliamphora that the S.F. Conservatory loaned us for the event. Beautiful, poster-sized photographs were also produced to decorate the walls behind the display tables, and members donated large specimens to wow the public.
Stephen also announced that he is now managing editor of the International
Carnivorous Plant Society's journal, Carnivorous Plant Newsletter.
This is quite a job, and we are confident
that Stephen will do admirably. Although this is partially a scientific
journal for publishing research and newly discovered plants, as well as
naming hybrids, etc., Stephen would like it to have a fun side that includes
the hobbyist. As everyone is aware, CPN is made possible by
volunteer labor, and, as such, it is important that the membership help out
by writing articles, etc. Have you been on any CP field trips? How did you
begin your interest? What are your observations about the cultivation of
CPs? How can we introduce others, especially children, to the
delights of growing such unusual plants? If you have anything to contribute
or ideas about how to improve the journal, please contact Stephen Davis.
Geoff Wong and Stephen Davis put together a beautiful terrarium display of CPs surrounded by a New Zealand sphagnum moss wall at the newly open California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park across from the De Young Museum. There is also a display of Sarracenia around the great alligator pit and a Nepenthes display in the Borneo exhibit on the first floor of the rainforest. Although the public is crowding into the exhibits now, be sure you take time to visit in the spring.
Nepenthes ampullaria, N. talangensis, N. tentaculata, N. truncata, N. bicalcarata, N. sanguinea,
Cephalotus follicularis, Proboscidea louisianica seed pods.
Heliamphora neblinae, Pinguicula emarginata, P. esseriana, Darlingtonia californica, Sarracenia oreophila, Utricularia tridentata, U. warburgii, U. reniformis.
Geoff Wong displayed some Borneo plants to complement the lecture. They included Nepenthes macrophylla, N. hurrelliana, and N. lowii.
Tony Gridley showed Utricularia tridentata.
Christopher Lew brought in a Nepenthes sanguinea.
Mike Di Tota brought in a Nepenthes ramispina that he raises in an open fish tank and a N. alata variagata which he grows on a windowsill behind a sheer curtain.
Larry Logoteta brought in an unknown cross with N. tobaica that displays red new foliage.
Lois Ochs brought in a canvas bag that was a souvenir from the 7th International Carnivorous Plant Society Meeting that she attended in Sydney, Australia, this year. She cleverly had all the participants sign her bag as a memento of the occasion.
A newspaper article about CPs was also included -- always good to have press.
California Carnivores, David Conner.
Gina Morimoto and Arthur Yin's Adventure to Borneo
Mt. Kinabalu Area Trip (Borneo, Malaysia) Sept. 1-4, 2007,
after the Sarawak Nepenthes Conference hosted by Ch'ien Lee
Gina and Arthur made a wonderful PowerPoint presentation with beautifully photographed plants and scenery all labeled, making it very easy to follow. The first adventure was to Bako National Park near Kuching in the Malaysian (north) side of Borneo. Nepenthes ampullaria and N. faizaliana were first spotted.
Gina and Arthur traveled to the northeast side of the island to the city of Kota Kinabalu. From there it is a two-hour bus or taxi trip to the famous Mt. Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in Malaysia at 4095 m (13,435 ft). It harbors eight species of Nepenthes, four of which are endemic to the mountain.
Gina and Arthur told us about how one first has to arrive early in the
morning at the gate to the summit trail, which is at 1829 m (6,000 ft). You have to
carry a pass and have a guide to climb the steep trail. They first
passed by the Carson Fall and then saw their first CP, Nepenthes tentaculata,
which grows between 700 and 2400 m (2300-8000 ft). The soil is rich in phosphorus, iron, and
silica. The next Nepenthes was N. villosa, which thrives between
2340 and 3240 m (9,000-10300 ft) in a mossy, forested, subalpine location. At 2,400-3,000 m (8000-9000 ft) they
encountered N. × kinabaluensis (N. rajah × villosa)
in open area or under canopy in the cloud forest.
Next, they ventured on to Mesilau at 1,051 m (3450 ft), 45 minutes from Mt. Kinabalu. They hired a guide for 100 ringgits (Malaysian currency -- about 3 ringgits to the dollar).
At a golf course located at 1,200 m (3900 ft) they found N. fusca in a mossy forest. In some farmland filled with rattan they found N. burbidgeae at 1,200-1,800 m (3900-5900 ft) in mossy forest. After crossing a stream they saw the famous N. rajah, which grows between 1,500 and 2,600 m (4900-8500 ft). This one was in an open grassy clearing next to a river, receiving a spray of water. They then showed us pictures of Utricularia striatula, which can grow as a lithophyte (on rocks) or as an epiphyte (on plants). At 2,000 m (6500 ft) they spotted N. × alisaputrana, a hybrid of N. burbidgeae and N. rajah.
The next Nepenthes that Gina and Arthur encountered was N. lowii, which may be extinct in Kinabalu due to fire and drought that have plagued Borneo in recent years. They generally grow between 1,800 and 2,600 m (5900-8500 ft) epiphytically or terrestrially in mossy forests.
At the Mesilau Nature Resort they saw N. burbidgeae, N. fusca, N. tentaculata, and a rare N. rajah upper pitcher. N. rajah also has the largest pitchers of all carnivorous plants. [see photo at right]
This was truly a wonderful adventure, and we thank Gina and Arthur for sharing their great photos.
by Stephen Davis
Not since the building of the Golden Gate Bridge has San Francisco been so abuzz.
The Academy of Sciences, also referred to as Steinhart Aquarium, in Golden Gate Park was
reopening after being torn down due to extensive damage in the 1989 earthquake.
I was lucky enough to know some people at the Academy who needed help. It was getting dangerously close to opening and there was a 3' × 3' × 4' terrarium that was completely empty. Since Kristen Natoli, their horticulturalist, was busy trying to create an entire rainforest in a bubble, the task of filling this little space was left to Geoff Wong, who tapped me on the shoulder to help.
I had no idea how big a project this was to become. I had built small terrariums before, and it took an afternoon or two. With this in mind, Geoff and I met Saturday on Labor Day weekend. We spent three hours measuring, planning, and designing and then went home to gather materials and get some small items prepared. We met again on Monday early in the morning, deep in the bowels of the museum, surrounded by massive pipes and huge tanks filled with poisonous and exotic fish. Humidity was about 98%, and air circulation was definitely optimized for the fish, which didn't seem to need any.
As a side note, my favorite tank was the poisonous stonefish. There is a handwritten note on the locked lid that says, "Rules for Stonefish Tank. 1) Do not touch the stonefish." After that was a list of precise precautions in dealing with the tank and its inhabitants, including a note that at least two trained staff members must be present with radios that have been tested at the tank, and security guards with radios ready to call 911 should they get the call via radio that things had ended badly.
We used egg crate that is used for fluorescent lights for the walls and the base frame. Bird netting and fishing line was used to hold sphagnum on the vertical walls. This took much longer than we thought. Everything took much longer than we thought. We had to sew the netting and sphagnum to the frame and then the Pinguicula to that. We spent 12 hours the first day, and then 14 or so hours the second. All this for a 3' × 3' × 4' display. In the end we had a great display, with nearly every carnivorous plant form represented. I was particularly pleased with the moss walls with pings growing out of them. The pings seem to be flourishing and continue to bloom.
Next, we were assigned to the moss wall in the rainforest exhibit. Judith Finn and Geoff had already done a signigicant amount of work there. We packed sphagnum moss into a 15' tall by 4' wide by 4" deep steel frame that was attached to the wall on the ground floor of the rainforest. Not a really exciting or mentally stimulating task; however, the location was gorgeous. We were in a huge Plexiglas globe, surrounded by pools of giant fish, huge, colorful butterflies, and brilliantly colored birds flying around in the canopy over three stories above us.
When we were done stuffing moss, we went to work hanging what seemed like
hundreds of Nepenthes and orchids onto the double wall. We had too many, but we
had orders to place them all, as nothing leaves the rainforest alive. Everything that
leaves must be frozen for 72 hours to protect against the possibility of a virus or
some other exotic disease from escaping. Fortunately, we were told we were exempt
from this treatment. When we were done, we had packed all the orchids and Nepenthes
neatly into a pleasing display.
Carnivorous plants are everywhere at the Academy. If you look closely at the moss wall in the cafeteria, you will find some carnivorous plants growing happily. There is a very small terrarium display in front of the gator tank with frogs and some carnivorous plants, and, when they are not dormant, Sarracenia are nestled above the water in the albino alligator swamp.
Many of the plants come from California Carnivores and BACPS members' collections, including mine and Geoff Wong's.
I went back for the special benefactors and members pre-opening night and had a blast watching the people admire our work. I talked to a lot of people about the plants and was amazed and pleased with the level of interest people had. I skipped opening day, which was a madhouse. It opened at 9:30 a.m., and people that were in line at 10:30 were told they might not make it in that day.
The terrarium is a temporary display and will only be up until they decide to take it down. It could be there for just six months, or a year, or three years. The moss walls in the rainforest and cafeteria are permanent displays. You can see some of my pictures of the building of the display at
http://sundew.smugmug.com/gallery/5889425_RjjRT/1/366707956_56aj5
I hope to have some images of the rainforest in another album on my site soon. You can get more information on the Academy of Sciences and this amazing building at http://www.calacademy.org/.
by Joe Mazrimas
| BACPS TREASURY REPORT Nov. 15, 2008 | |||
| ASSETS | DEBIT | BALANCE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit refund | $300.00 | ||
| Raffle | $145.00 | ||
| Sellers | $50.00 | ||
| Auction | $210.00 | ||
| TOTAL | $705.00 | ||
| Facility rental | $675.00 | ||
| Current Balance (11-15-2008) | $30.00 | ||
| Previous Balance (8-16-2008) | $3697.87 | ||
| TOTAL | $3727.87 |
by Tony Gridley
Doris Quick sent in a very nice photo of her Sarracenia × wrigleyana. I took a couple of photos of signs in the CP bog at the Huntington Botanical Gardens at the end of December.
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March 18-22, 2009: San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, San Mateo Event Center.
April 4, 2009: Spring BACPS meeting,
University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley. Ron Long speaking about the Nepenthes of Sumatra.
April 25, 2009: Bug Day at the Randall Museum, San Francisco.
July 18, 2009: Summer BACPS meeting, California Carnivores, Sebastopol. Potluck lunch social.
November 21, 2009: Fall BACPS meeting, University of California Botanical Garden,
Berkeley.
California Academy of Sciences photos -- Stephen Davis; Sarracenia × wrigleyana-- Doris Quick; Nepenthes rajah near Mt. Kinabalu -- Arthur Yin; all other photos -- Tony Gridley.
The BACPS Newsletter is a quarterly publication produced by the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society. Please send newsletter submissions to Tony Gridley (tgridley@comcast.net). For more information on membership, subscriptions, or events, please visit our website: www.bacps.org.