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Hybrids

Thinking that all the CP family that have more than one species have hybrids (Nepenthes, Heliamphora, Sarracenia, Drosea, Butterworts). How come bladderworts does not have any hybrids?
 
There are some purported Utric hybrids. I have seen pics of something that was supposed to be humboldtii x quelchii. Dodec has a plant given to him as alpina x endesii (correct me if I am wrong Dodec.) BestCP sells a plant that is livida x something as well if my memory serves.

I think the real reason there are so few Utric hybrids is that 1) Utrics really are not that cool to most CP growers and 2)Utrics are a pain to pollinate because the vast majority are so bleeding small
 
U. praelonga x livida seems pretty dubious. There is nothing about it that looks any different that U. praelonga, including the traps.

U. alpina x endresii looks a bit more promising, but I have not seen it flower. Apparently someone has had it flower and the flower showed characteristics intermediate between the two species.

Perhaps the same mechanism that makes many species not self fertile also works to prevent hybridizing. There are a lot of utric species that grow alongside each other in similar habitat, if they hybridized readily it would be quite a mess. Maybe one of the reasons there are so many species is because they interbreed so poorly.

This would be a good discussion topic for the mailing list.
 
Where flowers vary substantially between closely related species this could indicate that pollination by different insects is important in the prevention of hybridisation, as happens in many orchid species which will artificially hybridise freely. I don't know that Utric pollinators have been looked into much, but it would be interesting.

Giles
 
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