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Huge traps in U.arnhemica!


Martin Hingst

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Hi,

it is exactly one month ago since I had a look on my plants. Today I finally had the chance to do some care and cleaning. Not very exciting- until I came to my U. arnhemica pot!

arnh1.jpg

arnh2.jpg

arnh3.jpg

I remember reading that U.arnhemica builds up those large traps only under the most favourable conditions. Well -I am very satisfied :thumbsup:

Just some quick first shots. I will try some better ones when I have some more time.

Regards

Martin

Edited by Martin Hingst
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Thanks guys :thumbsup:

What do they catch?

Maybe Wallabys? :wink:

It is just two weeks ago since I first came across such big Utricularia traps - those of U.humboldtii on Amuri tepui. (sorry -but my fieldtrip reports still have to wait)

hums.jpg

But the fact that the arnhemica traps lie completely visible on the soil surface makes them even more spectacular to me.

Thanks for your nice comment Jeff. I feel still like a learner though :wink: what is a nice thing, with these little surprises from time to time :smile:

Regards

Martin

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Unbelievable pics, I've never seen anything like that. Very beautiful. :thumbsup:

By the way, which Utricularia species is supposed to have the largest traps??

Greetings,

Jarkko

I've read it is Utricularia humboldtii with Utricularia arnhemica and Utricularia reflexa also in the running.

Amazing pictures Martin. We usually just see the stolons and flowers of Utricularia so it's nice to see bladders :smile:

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Thanks again!

Yes Carl, that is to my knowledge as well. But I think the competition among those three is still not decided. For both humboldtii and arnhemica I have the number 12 mm, reflexa may be at that size as well.

My biggest traps are nearly 1cm, counted with the appendices.

Here a - hopefully better -last shot for now. Enjoy

Martin

arnh6.jpg

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Excellent photo's Martin, that last shot shows the traps in a way I've not seen before - brilliant! It looks almost alien like :thumbsup: And what a treat to see the traps forming on the surface - lucky you.

Heather

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Great pics!!

By the position of the traps, I guess this plant is probably covered by a film of water during the growing season in its natural habitats.

Any pics with something alongside the traps to serve as a size reference? Like your fingers? :)

Thanks, Fernando

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One of the greatest pictures I've ever seen about Utricularia for several years!

Any pics with something alongside the traps to serve as a size reference? Like your fingers? :)

I'm second Fernando that a a kind of size reference is desirable :)

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Amazing Martin, It's very interesting to see those huge traps. I also can imagine that plant growing below a thin film of water and those traps catching critters swimming on it.

It looks like you also had lots of flowers, any picture?

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Thanks again for your nice words :shock:

The traps reminds me of little pitchers

Marcel, thats what I thought at first - like a small Cephalotus perhaps :wink:

I also believe that the traps are covered with water in habitat, at least temporarily. I found only small traps in the soil. What makes sense - the organisms in the ground are for sure smaller than those in the free water, like mosquito larvae and such.

I have no picture with something to scale by now, I will try to add one the next days. So far, here another close-up of the trap:

arnh7.jpg

Most flowers are spent already - here two pics I took some months ago:

arn1siu3.jpg

arn2smz1.jpg

And there are of course Kamils wonderful pictures (thanks again :smile:)

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?s...mp;hl=arnhemica

Regards

Martin

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Hi,

My conditions are: high water level (up to the soil level), high temperatures (around 35°C /day, above 20°C /night), and a very high light level (1000 Watt/sqm fluorescents in 25cm distance, what yields in a light level close to 100.000 lux). I use a sand/peat mix with a high amount of sand (around 2/3).

Regards

Martin

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  • 5 months later...

Hi,

here another (maybe last) shot of my U. arnhemica traps. It is a somewhat older picture (the plant seems to go down now) that I took as an entry for our new CP kalendar. Competition was strong - it didn't make it through the jury, so open for the public now.

20769860.jpg

BTW - you can guess that our new 2010 CP calendar will again be full of nice pictures :wink:

Hope you like it

Martin

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Hope you like it

"Like"... No

LOVE!! Oh yeah!!!

Seriously, a wonderful picture of a fantastic plant. I hope you are able to keep it continuing in cultivation. If this plant proves to be a finicky annual I may just cry.

Thank you so much for the photos

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Hey Travis,

you like Jamaica? :wink:

Thanks - after having watched many of these northern tropical, small leaved and thin-stalked Pleiochasia species, I would say it is an annual in the wild.

And you can force those annuals into another two or three seasons. But I have stopped that. First, this is not natural. And second - vigour will go down more and more, it will never look like in its first spring.

Just like the girls - if they have decided to go, there is nothing left to do. You can try to enforce it (you can't ;-) but you will never again see that look in her eyes...

(was that silly?)

Edited by Martin Hingst
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Hey Martin,

I get your analogy. :)

I can live with it being an annual, I have dealt with a few of those in my days. I just hope that it is not one of those annuals that is difficult to keep going year after year for whatever reason. Thing like being so specialized with its pollinator that every attempt a human makes is futile. Or that it flowers so infrequently that you are never afforded the chance to attempt pollination. Those types of annual can make a mere mortal such as I go nearly insane.

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