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New carnivorous plant genus?

This post is part of an April Fools joke. There is no new carnivorous plant. Don't laugh too hard, you would have fell for it too if it wasn't for this disclaimer.


Hey Folks,

Well I've got some extremely interesting news. Now, before I spill the beans on this I want to emphasize that nothing has been proven (or disproved!) yet, but I have to say that so far this is very interesting.

Several weeks ago I was contacted by the project leader for botanical assessments from the team of scientists that were exploring the "Lost World" area of New Guinea. She wanted to know about carnivory in the Pedaliaceae. I told her that the only plant in this family even remotely considered being carnivorous is Ibicella lutea, which until relatively recently was considered to be in the family Martyniaceae. We discussed the matter in several emails (and one rather expensive phonecall!) until she finally came clean with me that they have discovered what appears to be a remarkable and novel form of carnivory, apparently in an as-yet-undescribed genus.

What makes this so interesting (for me, at least) is that while the plants (apparently) use mucilage to digest the prey, the mucus on the leaves is not used to retain prey. Instead, the plant is covered with many short silicaceous hairs that are extremely minutely barbed. This is not a flypaper plant so much as a pincushion plant! It's not clear if this plant preferentially preys upon soft-bodied organisms or what.

ALSO, remember that until radio-isotope studies are carried out on this plant, it will not be known if nutrients are actually translocated into the plant. However, in terms of the carnivorous syndrome, this plant demonstrates aspects of "Attracting", "Retaining", "Killing", and almost certainly "Digesting". Absorption? Well, the leaf surface looks like it may be glossy (suggesting a thick waxy cuticle), but the leaf is supposedly more permeable near the leaf mid-rib on the upper surface. Maybe fluids are absorbed there?
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Dr. Sanchez also told me that this plant is commonly associated with disturbed habitats (animal trails, etc.). It produces many burr-like seeds so probably uses animals as a dispersal mechanism. All this suggests that, like many trailside plants, it would probably be very easy to grow. Unfortunately, because of the possible pending status of the site (I think it might be designated a globally-important bioreserve) seeds are not likely to be available anytime soon.

A couple of other quick notes from my conversations.
1)No news of leaf motion.
2)No observations of flowers, just fruit.
3)Expect to see publication of the new name in a journal like TAXON. Dr. Sanchez doesn't mind the photos being released because her team is the only group of people with specimens for herbarium specimens! So she can't get "scooped" so doesn't mind the news going around.

I'll keep everyone posted as much as I can. Unfortunately, I'm travelling right now, and will be spending 2-9 April in Texas (I'll be hooking up with Mike Howlett for some field trips!).

Talk to you later!

Barry

P.S. I will attempt to add a photo to this post, but I haven't done this before so I don't know if I'll do it correctly.

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Close but no Cigar! Its a little big! Just the same, when you get one, I would like to see it!
 
Cool! That's some exciting news! We'd appreciate it greatly if you'd keep us updated. Cool to see something like this in the workings, and a pretty interesting plant, to boot!
 
very cool but it better have an outstanding flower before i devote grow space to it. looks homelier than a Ping
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Wow...that's some very interesting news!  It would be awsome if it turned out to be truly carnivorous.  It sure is a "hairy" lil' bugger...but then again so are the "wooly" 'dews.

Thanks for sharing the info and keep us updated!

Awww...Rattler...Pings aren't homely!
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lol no they arent but thats the best comparison i could come up with of the top of my head.........i like my pings..............that thing however...............well it needs a good flower i get enough crap about there being nothing in my pots of moss but growing something that looks like that and doesnt move or do anything cool? i would never live it down. ppl think im strange enough as is. ive seen prettier weeds out in a wheat field
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it is an interesting discovery though..................dont mind the rude comments, im attempting to ease myself off of Vicoden and its not working to well, especially when its FREAKING raining and i cant go blow stuff up with pieces of lead and copper at Mach 2 and 3
 
look cool, to me is a drosera!
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, jk, but it look like a drosera!, i hope we discover plants sometime, or create ones....kinda interesting huh!
 
It does look like a drosera but no dew is produced... flowers and more genetic backgroudns will tell, heck even a new species of drosera would be neat, i would grow it any day (if it got into cultivation any time soon!) I was hoping so much for their to be a Carnivorous plant on this exploration! And they might have foud one.. it could also be a defence mechanisim... kind of like how a thorny bush has thorns... any ways Its neat none the less.. any red pigment found on any of them (or something they look very boring!?) From what it looksl ike it doesnt look like theirs any glands on the tip of the hairs, maybe the whole hair is the digestive gland? maybe they snair the prey and then digest it some how?

Cheers
 
  • #11
I also expected to hear news of a cp on that expedition, but considering the part of the world that it's in I expected it to be a new Nepenthe. It's never too early to start thinking about conservation, so I'm sending you an email Barry, maybe we can get a chance to discuss this before you take off to the Lone Star.
 
  • #12
yea... i was just about to leave a comment about conserving the site as they have allready disturbed the delicate balance of the eco system in the area they are explored.

cheers
 
  • #13
It sounds to me like the site is already protected. A single herbarium specimen isn't really going to offset the balance either unless the plant is extremely rare and delicate.

-D. Lybrand
 
  • #14
they said they took a bunch of specimin back from the ecosystem they studied....

Cheers
 
  • #15
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Barry-Rice @ Mar. 30 2006,3:56)]because her team is the only group of people with specimens for herbarium specimens!
It doesn't say "a bunch" either. It just says specimens. That could be only two or a hundred. Don't know how many plants are needed for herbarium specimens, but I wouldn't think you would need much more than three or four plants at the most.
 
  • #16
ok i know Ibicella lutea is one of the Devil's Claw Trios.....but havent we proven already that it is quasi-carnivorous? we thought that the bugs would rot on the very sticky leaves and the nutrients from that are somehow absorbed through the leaf...now im confused....did someone discover that it is carnivorous by excreting dijestive enzymes?
very confused
alex
 
  • #17
isnt that what they do in neps they put out enzymes in the pitchers and Sundews produce enzymes in the glands that are part of the sticky substance??

Cheers
 
  • #18
I think the article lists it as a definite possibility- it seems to suggest that the thing is quai-carnivorous at LEAST just from observation of a few things, and that study needed to be done to see whether or not the plants was actually "eating" bugs itself, but that it obviously attracted (to som eextent) and seemingly killed insects, just the "what does it kill them for, and if it does in fact EAT them, then how" part has to be sussed out

EDIT I guess I could have put my own thoughts in that post too, eh??

VERY interesting.. I, too, was thinking that there must be some sort of CPs in there, but a new genus would be something indeed- to me it looks like the plant could be a "missing link" of sorts between Byblis and Pinguicula but that's just my impressions from the ppicture.. cool stuff indeed tho, thanks for sharing Barry
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  • #19
Very interesting report, Barry. Please keep us all updated on any new developments.
 
  • #20
wow very interesting when i first herd of "the lost world" i was hopeing for them to find a giant VFT or some of the "mythical" carnivorous plants lol
 
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