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Post by costaricacultivator on Apr 4, 2007 15:39:07 GMT
while you're still at it, i'll take advantage of this thread to keep correcting the plants' names in my collection. would you say that this is ventricosa?
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Post by rsivertsen on Apr 4, 2007 16:07:33 GMT
Nope, Absolutely not!, but a fine plant nonetheless! I susspect it has N. alata in it, perhaps something else too. The true N. ventricosa, by viewing it by the sideways profile, as you have here, would reveal that the peristome is completely horizontal, parallel with the ground, and the pitchers is very bulbous in the lower, and about the size of a large apple, very constricted in the middle (much like N. lowii) and very wide at the peristome, with multiple "points" on it, up to 20, last time I counted! The pitcher itself is very waxy in appearance, and stiff to the touch. The leaves of the true N. ventricosa are very narrow, firm and waxy to the touch, and long, up to 14 inches long, and also have parallel margins for most of it.
Rich
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Post by costaricacultivator on Apr 4, 2007 16:15:52 GMT
thanks for the compliment on the plant!
so i have an alata hybrid? back to bobz's page and take a careful look at all the pictures...
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Clint
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Posts: 808
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Post by Clint on Apr 4, 2007 16:16:49 GMT
It's a ventrata.
My friends grandparents just moved to Costa Rica about 6 months or so ago. They say it's wonderful.
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Post by BarryRice on Apr 4, 2007 16:36:41 GMT
I'm certainly no Nepenthes expert, but I do believe your plant has N. ventricosa in it. The glossy look, the absence of wings in front of the pitchers, and the waxy and recurved look of the peristome all say N. ventricosa to me. But the elongated nature of the pitchers indicates the hybridization that rsivertsen is commenting on. Nepenthes x ventrata may be a reasonable guess...
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Post by Michael Catalani on Apr 4, 2007 16:39:09 GMT
The pitcher shape seems to say N. xventrata. The coloration is extremely nice!
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Post by costaricacultivator on Apr 4, 2007 17:00:12 GMT
hey, thanks everybody! saw a bunch of pictures at the humboldt site and almost all ventrata looked like mine. btw, justlike a pill, where did your grandfolk's friends move to? city or beach? pm me their phone number so i can give them a call and say hi.
carlos
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Clint
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Posts: 808
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Post by Clint on Apr 4, 2007 17:08:58 GMT
Please call me Clint I have no idea where they moved, maybe they moved to San Jose? I just know they moved to the rainforest somewhere. Well Costa Rica is a giant rainforest, Isn't it? Lol. It was my friends grandparents, and we (my friend and I) have grown apart. I'm 17 so I don't talk to geriatrics much If you get a chance, we'd love to see pics from Costa Rica!
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Post by rsivertsen on Apr 4, 2007 18:12:22 GMT
N. ventricosa "red form" is in itself a hybrid population, as I mentioned in an earlier post, not sure what other specie(s) are involved, but it is very easy to flower, and over the years, I know for certain that is has been cross-pollinated with N. truncata, and again, with those hybrids, along with an array of other species and hybrids, so, whatever it is, may remain a mystery, until DNA testing becomes financially available to people like us! There are some stunning plants of hybrid origin out there!
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Post by rsivertsen on Apr 4, 2007 18:13:24 GMT
PS. Hey Barry, nice that we agree on SOMETHING! (LOL ;D) Rich
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Post by costaricacultivator on Apr 4, 2007 18:21:31 GMT
"I'm 17 so I don't talk to geriatrics much." well clint, you're sort of doing precisely that right now. you see, i'm 40 and when i was your age i knew everyone over 18 was an old geezer so that makes me, in your eyes at least, eligible for a room at a nursing home or a wheelchair. ;D let me see what i can do about getting you some pictures, meanwhile check out the site for the tourism board, which btw is where i work. www.visitcostarica.com/ict/paginas/home.asp?ididioma=2carlos
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Clint
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Posts: 808
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Post by Clint on Apr 4, 2007 18:40:02 GMT
40! Lol. Old is 70 and up!
One day i'll have to go to Costa Rica for sure. Looks fabulous.
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Post by rsivertsen on Apr 5, 2007 0:27:36 GMT
Well, I go back to the 12th Century, (or there abouts), SO, allow me to go into the history of this plant. I may have been one of the first to bring in these plants from the the Philippines into cultivation. Here's what happened: Way back in the early '70's, CPN had just formed, and I had already met up with both Joe Mazrimas and Don Schnell, and I was in the US Air Force, stationed in Nebraska, with SAC Hq., near Omaha, and worked the night shift. I had a few hours where I had to complete some chores, but the rest of the night was generally slow. I also knew several orchid growers, and borrowed their past issues to scour them for dealers in the Indonesian region for those who might offer Nepenthes. I had access to a primitive word processing machine and had a standard form letter written up. I sent dozen of letters out, and finally, after a few months, one dealer in Luzon, just outside of Mindanao, wrote back and said he could supply me with N. ventricosa. After a few months of haggling prices, (he originally wanted $40.00 per plant, with a minimum order or 300 plants!) and I told him that was not acceptable, and eventually we agreed to a lesser amount of plants and a better price. I sent him my Green/Yellow import stickers, and an International Money Order. I also insisted on just cuttings, without any roots, but the language problem must have been worse than I thought, because I received the box of plants plants a month later, roots and all, with the distinct odor of pesticides. I rinsed the plants off, and took cuttings of all of them, which proved to be a good thing as most of those cuttings took root, while the remainder of the plants eventually died. There were nearly a hundred of them! I was originally pleased to see almost all of them produce these fleshy, red colored pitchers, but could only get them to grow to about six inches tall. They flowered profusely in another couple years, both males and females, I cross pollinated them, and sent seeds out to everyone I knew. I had seen the N. ventricosa at Longwood Gardens and saw that those plants were easily twice the size of mine. I was also in correspondence with several Japanese collectors and growers and mentioned this to them, and found out that they had already been quite familiar with this same dealer, and also informed me that he was collecting plants from a hybrid population that they believed were all forms of N. ventrata (hybrids between N. alata and N. ventricosa), and had visited the site themselves, and told me that there were N. alata red forms growing within the same population of these N. ventratas. I kept a few of my favorite forms, but gave away dozens of plants, (including seedlings) back in the early '70s. And that's our history lesson for today! (There'll be a test next week!) Rich
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Post by ICPS-bob on Apr 5, 2007 2:50:51 GMT
(There¡¦ll be a teat next week!) A teat?
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Clint
Full Member
Posts: 808
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Post by Clint on Apr 5, 2007 2:52:16 GMT
Lmao!!!!
I look forward to your weekly teats lmao hahaa ohh I just threw up a little in my mouth....
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