What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

color & temperature

Have anyone observed the effect of temperature on pitcher color? This year , winter in Bangkok is a little bit colder (15 degree celcius compare with average 18 deg.) and last longer. My lady customer , who I gave her young N. xKuchingensis (mirabilis 'Chumphon' x ampullaria 'Songkhla') as gift last year , send me some photos.
This is the young I gave her
Yui1.jpg
 
winter pitcher (red) compare with normal (pale , right) .
DSC04236_resize.JPG
 
Yui3.jpg

This phenomenon also happened to my customer in France
BesnardKuchingensis.jpg

It would be so kind if anyone could explain how temperature can alter pigmentation. Thanks.
 
I know that cooler temperatures change colros on my Rose bush during winter, they will get all red, the pigment is kind of a way to protect it i would assume? I used to know what the reason was but now I have forgotten why this phenomena happens.

Hope some one responds soon!
 
I think that is has something to do with chlorophyll not being as efficient at absorbing light at lower temperatures. Not too sure though. ???
 
Thanks both of you , I notice N. xCoccinea growing in Northernmost of Thailand (colder)are also more colorful. There might have some scientific explanations. //Nong
 
I think that is has something to do with chlorophyll not being as efficient at absorbing light at lower temperatures. Not too sure though. ???

You see the same thing with sea weed : species that grow in deeper places are red while the ones that grow at the coast line are green. But the cause of this is the amount of light that decreases, so with Nepenthes both factors could stimulate each other. Well I am gessing this, I could be way wrong....
 
  • #10
Mmmhmmmm.

Phycoerythrin absorbs the greens, reds and yellows. Phycocyanin absorbs blues greens and yellows. These are proteins (flourescent?) that cover up the color of chlorophyll, but it's still there. This allows them to live in deeper environments and absorb more of the diffused light there. Nothing to do with temperatures AFAIK.


This one time I had an orange macro growing on a shipment of liverock that I had just got, and when I turned the actinics on it flouresced the most vivid beautiful red/orange i've ever seen. Sadly it didn't make it :(


I think leaves in fall turn colors as the chlorophylle breaks down/dies, and either the color is the result of this or the color is the color already there but is just masked by the chlorophyll. Can't remember.
 
  • #11
with sea weed : species that grow in deeper places are red while the ones that grow at the coast line are green. But the cause of this is the amount of light that decreases

yep. the case with seaweed is sea water absorbs different spectrum ranges the deeper you go. So deep-water seaweed is different colors because, while red-orange-yellow light gets refracted or absorbed at fairly shallow depths, green-blue-violet light penetrates deeper (which is why deep water appears blue). Chlorophyll wouldn't work well in this light spectrum, but red and brown seaweed found a way around it. The Nepenthes aren't experiencing conditions quite that extreme, however..

leaves in fall turn colors as the chlorophylle breaks down/dies, and either the color is the result of this or the color is the color already there but is just masked by the chlorophyll.

the other pigments were already there, but masked by the chlorophyll. they appear as the chlorophyll degrades. I was kinda surprised by that when I learned it!
 
  • #12
It's hard to comprehend for me lol. How such colors can be there but you just can't normally see them.
 
  • #13
but....

Thanks again. But how can those be applied to temp.?
Perhaps it's coincident , winter in Thailand means shorter days , longer night
and cloudy. Thus plants produce less chlorophyll . Sound reasonable ?
 
  • #14
Nong,
We get the same phenomenon. Our winter pitchers are more intense in color, and we get very sunny days. I believe it has something to do with night temperature drops when the plants are metabolising sugars.
 
Back
Top