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Vft descriptions

Ok guys, time to get back to this subject. Breaking down the differences between the milliad of vft's out there today.

First, let's go over the giants. Anyone growing one with a specific name? Slack's, Dingley's, Low Giant, etc...
 
I have a Dingley's Giant, but I'm not quite sure how to discern it from a group of them.
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I labored intensively on this subject many moons ago. I had it all down,the descriptions,etc. Then, Mike King unintentionally threw me a curve ball as to the identity of one of Adrian Slack's giant forms, and,as of now,I have to work this out. Maybe in the future I will revisit this thread and my pursuit of the identity of all of the "Giants".
 
I had 3 Baby Dingley Giant Vft's(these originated in Dingley Australia). One died from a bird ripping it out of its pot,the other wasn't very vigorous. The one I have now is too small to describe with great detail. However, There is a japanese webpage I am trying to relocate with a few pictures of a Dingley Giant.
 
Okay, for starters, the great carnivorous plant grower Adrian Slack had three "Giant" forms in his collection. The first was what is now known as South West Giant. This plant fell into the hands of Alistair Pearce who named it that. It is "always" an upright plant with very large traps. the traps get "only" light pink. The second "Giant" originating from Slack's collection is G14, also known as Dirk Ventham's Giant. It is less frequently known as Mike King's 1979 Clone. It has a growth habit of a typical VFT with large traps. Traps and teeth become purple-red. The third "Giant" known to Slack was G16, more commonly known as Slack's Giant. This plant always grows prostrate(it never has erect petioles)and has blood red,not purple traps like G14 . Dingley Giant was not grown by Slack and is hard to ID. To the best of my ability based on photos and the diminuitive size of my sole survivor plant-it is a semi-prostrate(mostly ground -hugging) plant with pink to red traps and what appears to be mostly heart-shaped leaves. Needless to say it is reputed to have large traps. These four plants are the most reputable of the "Giant" forms. I believe many of the other so called "Giant" forms may be crosses of these, especially in the countries of origin. Example: the Giant known as Low Giant may be the same plant as Slack's Giant(G16) I have no evidence to prove this. However, as you can see there has been alot of renaming of the source plants with respect to the aforementioned cultivars of Slack's. I hope this helps. This is by no means an exhaustive work, I have many other notes on the "Giants". Also there are alot of misleading photos and people who are not IDing these plants properly. Under Dingley Giant on the Carnivorous Plant Photo Finder I noticed that the photo from Bestcarnivorous plants .com for Dingley Giant was actually a photo for Bigmouth aka Red-Purple. Happy Giant hunting.
Stephen
 
Zappafan-Thanks for sharing this info, and I am sure you got the write answers. I also am very happy of this tread. I hope to cover every type of VFT out there From Typical to reds to Mutants. Now Here is my info of Dingley's(From an Ausy friend) :Dingley's Giant can grow up to a dinner plant in span when mature. It will have traps up to 1 5/8 inch long. Traps can gain a red hue. Dingley's is ot a well upright grower but will have long petioles. I see that some of this info matches with yours Stephan. Again I really want people to describe the different forms out there.
 
Other large forms:
Bigmouth-Huge Intense red purple traps on very short petioles.

Vigorous-Just a very vigorous typical plant.

Fang-Quite a large grower. Has red traps with extra long cilia.
 
Slack's Giant:

Slack's1Big.jpg


That was last year, this year it's gone a bit mad and has divided into about four growth points with mostly smaller traps, although it has managed a couple of the giant ones.
 
Thanks for the information Stephen. I have moved the Bestcarnivorous plants.com link entry in my Carnivorous Plant Photo Finder from Dingley Giant to Bigmouth. Upon closer inspection, I notice that the photo is simply identified as "D_muscipula_giant" and in the web text as an example of a "wide mix of giant forms". My mistake.

I try to accurately place link entries under the correct plants. Sometimes the misidentification occurs by the owner of the photo and sometimes I mess up. Once I learn about an incorrect identification, I either move the link to the correct location or put a note on that entry stating that the owner may have an incorrectly identifed plant.

-Bob-

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Also there are alot of misleading photos and people who are not IDing these plants properly. Under  Dingley Giant on the Carnivorous Plant Photo Finder I noticed that the photo from Bestcarnivorous plants .com for Dingley Giant was actually a photo for Bigmouth aka Red-Purple.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
 
  • #10
You are very welcome Bob. Thank you for your outstanding webpage.
 
  • #11
So, have we covered Giants enough? If so what is next on the description list?
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  • #12
And of course there's "Low Giant", which i'm guessing would be just a low growing giant strain. I should be growing this one soon enough, and hope to have it sitting next to my Dingley to see how the term "Giant" compares between the two.

Incidently, I picked up a so called "typical" vft from a nursery at the end of the spring which had traps about two inches long and leaves that extended an easy 4-5". The petioles aren't flared at all, basically thin. I'm going to be extremely curious to see what the rhizome looks like later in the year.

Hmmm, next?

Well, we could get into an endless debate on the red forms...seriously endless, too much variation is possible from seed. Especially now that everyone is getting over the myth that letting a vft flower will kill it 100% of the time. We could cover the known types though and get a full description of them...'Akai Ryu', Red Piranha, 'Royal Red'...anyone have an actual description of cantley's btw?

At some point i'd also like to discuss the differences between dentate or dente, or dentata...your choice...and 'Jaws'.
 
  • #13
I've got info on the reds and dente.

Akai ryu-Darkest of the red forms. Turns red all over. Also a vigourous red grower.

Royal red-A lighter colour red. This plant Is red all over except for the margins.

Red pirahna- An all red sawtooth.

Clayton's volcanic red- I heard from trev that this plant has thin petioles that spews out like a volcano. It is red all over.

Holland red- A rather weak red form. All red forms are descendants of this form. This plant was found in a batch of wild collected plants.

Oops forgot dente....

Ok dente and detate was a TC mutation.

Detate traps was wild collected.
 
  • #14
I might go through my notes soon and add more to the list. I have tried to document what the differences are as well. Let's keep this thread alive.
 
  • #15
Big Traps- A large vigorous plant.
Burbank's Best- An all green type.
Dutch-Large growing,imported from Holland.
Fang-One of the largest growers Triffid Park sells.
Fast-Quick growing,green plant.
Paradisia-A large robust plant,all green.
Vigorous-A large green plant,quick growing.
Triffid Traps-A large fast growing plant with slightly red inner traps. Doesn't die back in winter completely.
 
  • #16
Ok...so, have all these variations been officially registered so the descriptions are definitive as to a standard?  Seems like there is conflicting information or uncertainty as to what something is called and what it looks like.

If someone goes to the trouble to develop all these varieties, why wouldn't you take the time to make sure they're properly registered so there is no confusion?  Ok, maybe not NO confusion but a standard sure would help.

So...are these guys registered?

Suzanne
 
  • #17
No they are not registered. But I think when completely mature, these plants will display traits well and consistently. My bigmouth has all the traits as described.
 
  • #18
the only giant i have was a vft labeled giant from a trade that i got from someone in the forums . its quite small and its not old enough to describe yet but i am guessing that it is the low giant because , well its traps are low on the ground in a rossette and it was labeled giant
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. what weird about the plant isthat the leaves are yellowish green , the petioles are quite short but are wide a bit , and the red in the traps is magnificent , it is striped dark blood red in the trap
and has most red on the sides of the trap , and it is the quickest closing flytrap i possibly have at any temperture .
 
  • #19
I love the South CA sun! Great huh goldtrap? Any ways your plant fits the Bigmouth description pretty well.
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