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Wacky traps

My "Wacky Traps" (aka "Bart Simpson") survived the winter and is starting to put out Spring traps. Yesterday I took the first photos with my new camera (Canon Digital Rebel) as a learning experiment (handheld autofocus). They are a bit crappy. Once I learn to use it, I will get better.

Anyway, the plant is about 3-inches across. The new Spring leaves have not yet fully developed or opened, but it looks like the first traps will be about 3/4 inch. I just noticed the strange location of the trigger hairs. This placement is consistent on all traps.
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DANG! Them things look like burn victims!
What happens when a bug gets trapped? Do they escape more frequently because the hairs are, umm, burned off?
 
Cool, those trigger hairs look like fangs! I think those wacky traps look more like "jagged peaks and hills"
 
hmmm? I guess I don't see the pleasure in owning TC mutation like that. I would much rather have 10 nice robust VFT with good coloring in the traps then one of those. Personally, I think they should call that cultivar: Dionaea muscipula 'Aphid Attack' hahahaahaha.
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To each his own. No aphids, just a stable mutation. To me, it is one of the more interesting VFT forms, simply because it repesents an extreme. I really want to play with selfed seedlings, should I be so lucky to get a flower and some seed. One of the fundamental ideas in science is that you generally learn more by observing the extremes than the average. To some of us, ugly is beautiful. And, to me, fun is in experimentation and discovery.
 
Without the intermeshing hairs, how efficient is it at holding prey? It is a strange one to say the least.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Jason_In_CO @ April 15 2005,3:21)]Without the intermeshing hairs, how efficient is it at holding prey? It is a strange one to say the least.
I didn't think the traps were functional.... Bob - is that true? Or are they partially functional like 'cup-trap'?

I'm in agreement w/ Bob that I think it's a great mutation (but I wish it was more robust).

I don't own one of these yet but my 'fused tooth' is now my favorite. You never know what the new traps will look like - everything from a normal trap (esp in the spring) to 100% webbing (kinda like a clam) and everything in between. The most frequent trap looks like eyelashes w/ heavy mascara (as my wife tells me).
 
I'm with WickedThistle! Anything "outside the box" is cool!
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (RL7836 @ April 15 2005,3:30)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Jason_In_CO @ April 15 2005,3:21)]Without the intermeshing hairs, how efficient is it at holding prey? It is a strange one to say the least.
I didn't think the traps were functional.... Bob - is that true? Or are they partially functional like 'cup-trap'?
The traps are indeed functional and seem close about as fast as a typical trap. Last summer, I saw small spiders that had been captured in the traps. I think the trapping efficiency must be similar to the grasping efficiency of someone with amputated fingers. The hand can still grasp things, but not as well. I will do some testing this summer as the larger traps mature.
 
  • #12
Very interesting, never knew that existed as a VFT form. Quite amazing, actually.
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  • #13
That is pretty cool. It will be interesting to see how it looks a while down the road.

And I'm jealous that you have the digital rebel! I've wanted one ever since they came out!!!!!! How do you like it? Congrats on the plant and the camera
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  • #14
Hi Bob

Interesting plant! What is the history of it? Did it grow that way from a seed? How old is it? Have you tried propagating it?

It would be interesting to know if it were cloned with a leaf cutting if it would clone true.

Thanks for the photos!
 
  • #15
The history of this plant is in BobZ's photofinder, here's the short history on the plant: Ed Read writes “I got this plant from Mike ? who got it from his Dutch friends who have a nursery. The nursery propagates thousands of vfts from tissue culture and had a tray of a bunch of mutants. This plant was the only one he got. He named the plant he gave me "Wacky Traps." I later looked at it and said the traps look like Barts hair. I guess I'm not the only one who thought that since the name is going around. Of course I'm going on the assumption that these plants are the same”.

I seen alot of vft cultivars from just surfing BobZ's photosite :p
 
  • #16
PAK, I believe that it was originally a TC "accident" from a Dutch nursery and has had limited distribution since 1996. I got a tiny plant in March 2004. It is indeed stable when asexually cloned. "Wacky Traps" is believed to be the same plant as "Bart Simpson". For a more complete story, see
http://www.humboldt.edu/~rrz7001/zphotos/VFTWackyTraps.html
 
  • #17
My VFT "Wacky Traps" is now flowering. This spring it produced a huge scape that dwarfed the rest of the plant. If you do not think flowering takes energy from a VFT, think again. I let the poor little plant flower because I hope to get some selfed seed this year. However, the anthers have not yet produced ripe pollen and the stigma appears to be deformed. Time will tell whether viable seed will result.
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More photos are at
http://www.humboldt.edu/~rrz7001/zphotos/VFTWackyTraps.html
 
  • #18
Best of luck, Bob! Keep us informed as to if you manage to pollinate the flowers and whatever ensues! This is a very interesting mutation, indeed!
 
  • #19
Even the flowers are Wacky! I love youre VFT It makes me smile like this
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Keep it up! We really want to know! Maybe in a few years this can be come a common cultivator!
Cheers
 
  • #20
DISASTER STRIKES! On May 14, while pollinating the flowers, the pot fell off the table and landed upside-down on the floor breaking the flower scape completely off. This was devastating because the ovaries were swelling nicely and a good crop of seed was on the way. Well, no seed this year. Now, I will simply have to wait to see of the poor plant recovers. BUMMER!
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