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Blue topped leucophylla

Hi Guys,
A few years ago at Kew gardens, there was a specimen of a blue topped leuco (this is not a joke or a wind up!) supplied by Fred Case and labelled something like anstroguiana ( I maybe a liitle out on the exact spelling!). Kew lost it and that was that over here. Has any of you heard or seen this plant anywhere?
 
Mike,

About a year ago someone (I think he is here too; Gardenofeden) was asking about this plant on GardenWeb. You might want to ask him if he has had any luck tracking it down.

I wish I could offer more help than that.

Pyro
 
Well, I guess that answers that question
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Hi Pyro,
The plant definately came out of the US and had Fred Case's name on it. All I can say it was the wierdest leuco I have ever seen, like an electric blue colour. Unless someone is hoarding them all stateside, I am suprised no one else has heard of it!
 
I have never heard of it but would like to get my hands on one!
smile.gif
 
I actually know very little about this plant but the rumor I heard is that Kew's grew okay for one year, produced only phylodia the second year and expired the third. If I had to theorize as to why it is so "underground" I would guess that Mr Case either sufferd the same problem or that he is working to get a more viable clone to distribute. This is complete speculation though.

Pyro
 
Mike
you raised an interesting point about Kew though. why are they sooo BAD at growing CP's? they get some nice plants through but they never seem to live very long!
 
  • #10
Hi Steve,
Kew have got a new girl working there and she is now doing a fantastic job. Unfortunately for us and the blue leuco, that died before she took over!

Kew before that virtually wiped out their collection by giving them..... tap water!
 
  • #11
I know where you can get blue leuco's and even blue roses!...

First select the plant you want to be blue, then grab a blue marker.... and COLOR!!! INSTANT BLUE PLANT!!
smile.gif


Joe
 
  • #12
Actually Statik may have a point! You guys know how they get blue roses right? They water then with blue food colored water. Well why not water a CP with blue,red,yellow,etc. food colored water!!! It wouldn't hurt them I don't think. All it is is a simple dye. Hmm godd point though eh?!
 
  • #13
I think that is carnations NepG (though I may be wrong)

There is actually a blue flowered rose that is not the result of dye. It is of Japenese origin if I remember correctly and was the end result of an attempt to breed black flowered roses. The bloom is actually a very deep indigo (not the electric blue described for the leuco.)

Pyro
 
  • #14
So, could it work for the purpose I mentioned? (Yes they are carnation but white roses get it done to them too.)
 
  • #15
Hi Guys,
The blue leuco was growing next to standard green & white/red & white plants. The colours in Sarracenia are down to 'anthocyanins'. There is a blue pigment that is found in purpurea subsp. venosa plants from certain locations and it is a genetic factor. A lot of colour forms are from distant hybrid colour introgression and somehow the genes found their way into this particular specimen. If you are like me who likes to collect nearly everything that shows a particular unique feature in a Sarracenia, you look for it whole heartedly!
 
  • #16
NepG,

I have no clue as to whethet it would work or not with Sarrs. Could be an interesting science project but I don't have a leuco so...

Mike,

Not trying to correct you, just asking because this is something I have always wondered and you seem to know. I though anthocyanin only accounted for the red/purple colour in plants. This always boggled me as I thought the reactive component of anthocyanin was copper which oxidizes blue. Is anthocyanin actually a family of similar structure molecules each with its own colour properties?

Pyro
 
  • #17
I have seen such plants, and understand Mike Kings a collector of every different trait a Sarracenia has so his motivation is different from mine, but I am in no way knocking anyone as it may appear in type.  I am not.
I was discussing some of these newly in demand Dionaea cultivars with a old time friend -I don't know half of them.  After he described some of these "new" VFT's to me I stated ..."oh the kind we used to get rid of in the 70's because they were all messed up"  he said..."exactly"...now they are naming every mutant VFT has some kind of rare cultivar.
Not the exact same case here with Sarracenia.
Some forms of S. flava show this dark green, almost blue look.  I don't have the knowledge why, but while its rare its not unheard of and I can find the flava's commonly.
Not so with S. leucophylla it is very rare but often a bland plant in habitat or collection as the colorful S. leucophylla goes, it is a retard., but my view is always the same.
We have a plant that Bob Hanrahan has coined S. minor surprise.  It is sweet looking very red and with a wonderful pink flower.  How can a S. minor have a pink flower?
confused.gif
 This is so rare.
Not really, S. minor and S. psittacina form complicated hybrids regulary.  Complex back crossing will give a S. minor a pink flower.
No doubt it is a pretty S. minor with a little S. psittacina still shining through.
Some purist hold no love for hybrids, yet go crazy over a S. leucophylla with a yellow bloom.  S. flava x leucophylla back crossed will give your S. leucophylla a yellow bloom.
Still their are anthocyanin free plants, but the dark aqua green S. flava & S. leucophylla I don't think are in this class.
Take care,
Mike
St. Petersburg Florida
 
  • #18
Hi Mike, Hi Pyro,
This leuco in question did not have the 'appearance' of being blue topped, it had blue veins and the white interspacings were tinged in light blue. It was one of those occasions you wish you had a camera with you! I too have red tube flavas that have a maroon bluey hue to it, but this leuco was if you like a 'blue& white' plant as opposed to red & white plants.

There is a link here to anthocyanins in Sarracenia:

http://www.pitcherplant.org/papers/antho.htm

So Mike, have you seen a plant that actually fits this description?

Pyro, my knowledge of plant colouration and chemistry is pretty limited, but I was reading from the above link to see what I could find on the internet about colouration of Sarracenias. But to me, blue seems to belong to this colour group.

What I am really looking for is someone who knows if this plant still exists as it was one of the most bizarre colourations on a Sarracenia I have ever seen.
 
  • #19
Blue color is an intermediate step in the formation of purple anthocyanine. A missing enzyme will cause the color formation to halt at the proper stage so that the blue color doesn't get altered to the purple color. Any purple colored plant/flower has the potential to be found in a blue form. It is very rare though because it requires that there be a mutation within a single gene.
Tony
 
  • #20
Mike,

Thanks for the link

Tony,

Thanks for the information

It seems my question has been answered, now we just have to figure out how to answer Mike's question.

Has anyone thought to ask on the listserv about whether this plant is still around??

Pyro
 
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