Is this Scrophulariaceae sp. practicing carnivory?

[sweetpea]

Is this Scrophulariaceae species practicing carnivory
Is this Linderniaceae species practicing carnivory 


Allen Lowrie and I have been working on breeding a large selection plant species, many of which do not always relate directly to this CP forum but if you grow carnivorous plants the majority of these plants do make fantastic companion plants.

This particular Scrophulariaceae species shows signs it maybe be practicing carnivory which will be of interest to Pinguicula and Drosera enthusiasts.

This Scrophulariaceae species is a leafy, very floriferous, compact, branching, Mexican Pinguicula-like plant with its leaves densely covered with glassy Drosera-like glands that are capable of capturing small flying insects. Its solitary flowers are numerous and positioned just above the leaves. Its flower shape is Pinguicula macroceras-like but without the spur and upper petals of that species.


Photo 01: A top class clone that Allen-san and I have bred.


Photo 02: Same clone as photo 01.
 

Photo 03

Photo 04
Photo 03 & photo 04: All parts of the plant foliage as well as the abaxial surface of the petals are covered with mucus tipped glands.


Photo 05

Photo 06

Photo 07

Photo 08

Photo 05, photo 06, photo 07 & photo 08: This species can catch small insects on any glandular part of the plant. Principally the adaxial and abaxial surface of leaves, flower stalks and the abaxial surface of petals and tube.

The viscosity of mucus is not as strong as that found in Drosera species or even that of Byblis guehoi to which it has been compared. The size of the prey this species captures is therefore rather small.
 
We are not exactly sure just what purpose the glandular covering on this species is used for.

Could its purpose be a means of gathering nutrients from captured prey; to defend against insect attack; or is it a self-watering adaptation used during the dry season, to collect water droplets from the moisture laden air during the early morning humid periods? Or is it a combination of any or all of these three adaptations?


(I cannot display Youtube here, can anybody help? If it is impossible, please go to:www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showforum=57 I succeeded to display Youtube there.)

Note how the motion of the flower stalks continually search for a place to position their seed capsules. The DNA code of this species seems to be designed to search for suitable locations where it can lodge its seeds into nearby cracks, ledges and fissures of a cliff face thus colonizing its vertical habitat.

We have proved that selected clones of this species from our breeding trials are very suitable for pot cultivation. They make an ideal potted colour species for sales in the florist and nursery trades.

The species may also be suitable for landscaping projects as well. Especially in regard to the decoration of large areas of brick, rock and block retaining walls. Landscape architects of the world may find this species the solution to adding living colour to the bare walls of their garden designs. This species preference for cliff face habitats make it a suitable candidate to be incorporated in their landscaping designs as spectacular vertical wall gardens. We can see a big future for this species in the hands of the world’s leading landscaping architects and designers.



In the younger flowers it appears only the pistil with its bilobed stigmatic tip is mature and active. The anthers at this time are not active and are hidden within a two lobed protective housing.

When the pollinator enters the flower: it triggers the pistil to rapidly swing upwards; gathering pollen grains on its stigmatic tips from the pollinator in the same motion; and finally positioning itself horizontally and well away from the pollinator. If the pistil fails to scoop-up pollen from the pollinator's body, the pistil will within 24 hours, reset itself and hang as before at the flower entrance ready for the next pollinator visit.

Later as the flower matures, the anthers push their two lobed protective housing apart, pollen grains are release and gathered together in a clump. The pollen package is now visible and hangs between and just below the two door lobes. The pollen is now readily available for pollinator deposits and transportation.

It appears a fully mature flower will not only accept pollen from a pollinator, but will also deposit its pollen on to the same pollinator as it exists the flower.

Note the 2nd well matured flower in the video: This pistil action suggests that if a pollinator touches the pistil strongly, the stigmas may come into contact with its own pollen. It appears this species could self-pollinate, but its design has a preference for out-crossing.

For a Japanese translation please go to: princeofwalesfeathers.blogzine.jp/blog/Scophulariaceaespecies.html

[adamcross]

Hi sweetpea,

If this is what I believe it is, I have talked about it with Allen and have previously collected the species from northern Australia. It is not currently placed within the Scrophulariaceae, rather its own family, and a solid analysis needs to be done to prove or disprove carnivory!

Adam

[sweetpea]

Dear Adam-san,

Konnichiwa!

Thank you very much for your reply.

Yes we are aware this species was placed in a new family in 2005.

We agree a solid analysis needs to be done to prove or disprove carnivory in this particular species. This would make a wonderful study for a botanist like yourself.

Allen-san and myself will write more observations and botanical details of this species in the very near future.

Kind regards

[Apoplast]

Hi Sweetpea - If that is the plant I suspect it is, this species has rather villous leaves within its new family. The presence of so many glandular trichomes is certainly interesting and suggestive.

I am with Adam though, that careful work will need to be done to suggest true carnivory. I hope more than a simple test of phosphatase activity using enzyme labelled fluorescence will be done. I am still very unconvinced by the Philcoxia tests. Unlike the spurious claims made with Philcoxia, yours and Allen's reserved approach gives me hope this work will be conducted with due diligence.

Actually, in some ways this plant would be an even better companion plant to carnivorous species if it were not found to be carnivorous itself. What a great example it would be of how not all sticky surfaces in plants have evolved primarily for nutrient acquisition. I'm quite looking forward to reading about your and Allen's findings.

[sweetpea]

Konnichiwa!

Please watch two videos.





Kind regards

[jdallas]

This is truly amazing. You wonder if this plant is in early stages of becoming carnivorous.

I've often wondered if carnivory could be selectively bred into a plant that already had some of the adaptations needed such as this. An example of a common plant here in the Pacific Northwest would be Common Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)with it's leaf margins that capture water. Could the offspring be selected for deeper and deeper cups while growing the plant in poor soil conditions to produce a pitcher plant-like offspring many generations later? It would be quite a project but would take many years.

Is this plant available for sale yet Sweetpea?

Jeff

[Dave Evans]

JDallas, you would need a very long time to breed in carnivory. The shapes are important, but think about all the internal chemistry and redone venation to transport the nutrients through the plant...

I think you would be able to breed carnivorous plant mimics, look-a-likes, but without cutting and pasting the genetics for the eating and making use of the resulting nutrients it is simply way beyond what breeding is capable of.

[sweetpea]

Part 1/9

Family: Linderniaceae
Genus: Lindernia
Species: Lindernia cleistandra W.R.Barker
Kimberley Sandstone Violet: KSV

First of all, I would like to express my condolences and gratitude to Allen-san, as this plant is derived from the late Mr. Allen Lowrie. Details about him will be given in the CPN. You can see his funeral at the link below. Even if you can't hear English like me, you can see a part of his life in many pictures.

livestream.com/accounts/30045108/events/9839036/videos/225850538


link
Allen Lowrie on Livestream livestream.com/accounts/30045108/events/9839036/videos/225850538

Allen-san, who liked my activities for some reason, had been providing me with a large amount of breeding materials for over 20 years. I deeply regret that he passed away before I repay him for his favors/favours.

[sweetpea]

Part 2/9

This time I will post about my failure. I've made countless mistakes in growing plants for many decades, but it's embarrassing to talk about them and I'm not used to confessing. However, I believe my failure will be useful to those who observe and propagate KSV in the future. I was commissioned by Allen-san to mass produce KSV seeds in 2020. I promised to do it in 2021. As a result, it failed, but I think its process of failure will be helpful to those who are interested in KSV. I don't think I'll be able to produce seeds for KSV for a while due to other plans, but it seems that KSV is being cultivated and studied in Europe so you may get seeds from them.
No passive flypaper: Byblis possess active moving traps - Byblis - Carnivorous Plants UK (cpukforum.com)

[sweetpea]

Part 3/9

The original seeds of KSV I grow were taken under the license that Allen-san got from the government. Government permission is required to collect any materials from the wild in Australia (at least Western Australia).
My guess is that this law eliminates the inconvenience of Australian researchers suffering from the lack of type specimens in the country. For example, the potential type Byblis filifolia was found in the Biota project, but Byblis filifolia type specimen does not exist in Australia, and I suspect that researchers may suffer inconvenience.
This type specimen was collected so long ago that it can't be helped that it doesn't exist in Australia, but nowadays there is a nation called Australia and there are many researchers there. I find it quite inconvenient to have no type specimens in Australia when Australian researchers study the plants of their country. I think the government is trying to avoid such a situation. This is just my speculation. It does not reflect the opinions of the Australian Government.
I believe there are countless "undescribed species / subspecies" in Australia.
If I go to Australia and randomly collect materials and bring them back to Japan, they may contain "undescribed species / subspecies". If I do something, it can be a huge loss for Australia. At the very least, I should get permission from the Australian Government. Of course, I don't think the Australian Government will give me permission.

[sweetpea]

Part 4/9

Regarding the botanical name,
When I posted to the forums,
Two names were valid as the family to which KSV belongs in the Western Australia Flora database, such as "Scrophulariaceae" and "Linderniaceae". When I asked Allen-san about this point, he said that each taxonomist had different judgment.

I can't enjoy talking to people who take on / pretend taxonomists. That feeling is getting stronger year by year.
I don't want to get involved in their discussions and disputes about classification and insectivory (carnivory). Thanks to Allen -san, I have been able to grow a lot of Byblis, so I may have something to say about ridiculous opinions, but otherwise I don't want to be involved in discussions or disputes / arguing.

In addition to having difficulty maintaining motivation to continue posting, I felt the danger of being involved in discussions and disputes as a real taxonomist had replied to my postings on a certain forum, and mentioned the latest literature.
In this case, he is a real taxonomist / botanist / researcher, he is not a "know- it-all" person.
I have only seen two Lindernia species (Australian). Both look like carnivorous plants, but strangely they don't look very similar. I don't understand the definitions of this genus and this family.

I'm in awe of carnivorous plants, but I see and treat carnivorous plants as Ornamental plants. I report what I saw. You guys are free to discuss them, but I am not going to be involved in any discussions or disputes/arguing about them.

[sweetpea]

Part 5/9

About pollinators
Moths and very small hoverfly-like insects that can hover in my area, both can hover, they appear to be able to mediate KSV pollination. This is in contrast to the lack of Byblis pollinators in this area. The lack of a Byblis pollinator is an advantage for me.

Please see Fantasy Flora time lapse 2 again. Although it is a time lapse series, the movement of the pistil in this video is the actual speed.



In the photo, in some cases, the moth may appear to perch on a plant. The moth is hovering by flapping its wings at high speed. This moth appears in my area from late summer to autumn. The photos were taken in 2011.
The little hoverfly runs away when I get close to it for shooting, so I haven't succeeded in shooting it yet.

[sweetpea]

Part 6/9

The temperature from sowing to transplanting to the pot is not necessarily terribly hot, but it needs to be terribly hot to grow crazy and look as beautiful as its own habitat, under my cultivation. In my greenhouse, this environment is from late June to mid-September.

According to Allen-san, hot air breeze of 50 degrees C may blow in its habitat.

The green ring with a diameter of 15 cm is not directly related to cultivation. Please watch the video again. The capsules are prevented from burrowing into the ground (the medium) by tying them with a thread so that the seeds are not soiled.
The difference in thread colors indicate the individual pollen parent or inbred lines, etc.

[sweetpea]

Part 7a/9

Please watch the video again.



The red-stained larva has a more intense pooling effect. The unstained one just swelled. This is not the effect of the stain. The stained larva is in direct contact with the lamina. The unstained larva only sits on the glandular hairs and does not touch the lamina.

I noticed this phenomenon in 2013. When I first saw it, I thought it was a fall of condensation (dewfall).
I noticed it at the end of summer, so further observations were carried over to the following year.

[sweetpea]

Part 7b/9

The conditions under which the pooling effect begins in my cultivation environment:
In the year of discovery, I realized that a terrible hot temperature was required for this phenomenon to occur violently. After reaffirming this phenomenon in the summer of 2014, I tried to shoot a video. I installed Timelapse software on my laptop PC and started shooting. The larva on the KSV the next day had no pooling effect. I wondered if my observations so far were dreams. I noticed something important. I continued to try shooting for the second time. Last time, I turned on the lights during the night all the time for shooting, but in the second shooting, I turned off the night lights and turned on the lights only when shooting a couple of times. I shot at night only on the first day.
Please watch the video again.



The KSV was in a small plastic container and there was a slide glass between the cheap USB camera and the KSV. The temperature was set to about 30 degrees C to prevent the slide glass from fogging. This is a fairly low temperature for observing the pooling effect.
The pooling effect occurred in this second shooting. Please watch from 14:02:53 to 19:04:23 on July 2, 2014. Something seems to be happening dramatically in the larva, rapidly the turbidity inside the larva hangs down and becomes transparent.
Night may also be involved in the digestive activity of other carnivorous plants.
As already mentioned, it seems that research on KSV cultivation and insectivory is being conducted in Europe.

I don't know if they are studying the pooling effect, but I hope it will be revealed the pooling effect by the skilled grower / great researchers above or other researchers, preferably Australian researchers.