Jump to content

Akai Ryu question


Feed me Seymour!

Recommended Posts

Hi all

I have a question about my Akai Ryu flytrap

Due to the lack of a british summer my Akai Ryu is starting to go more green than red - when the sun does decide to show itself - in anyones experience do they if the exisiting traps turn red or will it only be the new ones that grow?

It was a really nice red colour when we had that one week of a heatwave and now it just looks a bit on the green side

From the picture you can see the old red traps (with green rims - is this normal?) and the new traps in the back are just green

red_dragon.jpg

Cheers

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

When the sun does show itself (if) then the colour will improve. The plant needs the sun to turn the traps the nice red colour. The green rim is normal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It doesn't fit the cultivar description for Dionaea 'Akai Ryu', which states 'Any green coloration has only been noted around the center of the plant in mid-winter. The entire trap, interior and exterior, exhibits dark burgundy coloration throughout the year.'

Source: http://www.carnivorousplants.org/cpn/Species/v25n2p50.html

Edited by mobile
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a bit saying 'Grown under laboratory conditions, where nutrient levels can be comparatively high, the plants still exhibit partial burgundy coloration in the traps and leaf blade.' - to me that means in different conditions it has varying degrees of colour so it isnt always a fully burgandy coloured plant. A bit contradictory to the sentence before?!?!

Akai ryu is a bit of a lost cause in my opinion, many people doubt that any of us is growing the true akai ryu, I'm sure there are various clones going under this name. Thats why its so important for us not to make the same mistake with the newer clones, always keep a history of the plant - who its from and when and make sure its been propagated vegetatively from a known true mother plant.

My akai ryu shows some green aswell (mine doesnt get full sun all day, more full sun for part of the day but still shows more red coluration than the pic above), different growing conditions play a big part but as said above the situation with akai ryu isnt as easy one with a lot of us thinking there are different clones going around with this name....I think theres a similar issue Green Dragon too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Heather,

Excellent post!

You bring up some very good issues about various clones growing under the same name. This is a picture of my 'Green Dragon' GreenDragon2.jpg

and as you can see, right now it is looking very much like a 'Red Dragon'. I purchased it from a very repeatable source here in the USA and they assured me that it is a 'Green Dragon'. I believe them but still have a little bit of doubt.

Giovanni

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Giovanni - well according to the cultivar description your plant cannot be green dragon but when its comes with assurances from the seller its not easy to argue. I sometimes wonder just how intense the sunlight was for the grower who submitted the description, we'll never know but maybe it wasnt quite a intense as he thought?? I know one grower who tried many times to obtain green dragon but in the end they gave up as all the plants he got went fully red meaning it couldnt be 'Green Dragon'. I've also been assured my green dragons are definitely green dragons but difficult to tell especially without perfect growing conditions and the rubbish british weather certainly doesnt help! Either we are all growing the real 'Green Dragon' and the description is wrong or we're simply growing the wrong plant - neither is a great option!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps I take it to the extreme but to me, if the cultivar does truly match the published description and the seller cannot prove providence then it shouldn't be labelled as the cultivar. Doing so only goes to perpetuate the naming mess that Dionaea is already in. As an example, I recently purchased a small form Dionaea which is all red, meaning that it could be 'petite dragon' but the seller doesn't know if it is so I won't be labelling it so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As an example, I recently purchased a small form Dionaea which is all red, meaning that it could be 'petite dragon' but the seller doesn't know if it is so I won't be labelling it so.

Well I'm glad to hear that Carl, unless it was sold as petite dragon I see no reason to name it as such just because it looks similar, of course not everyone seems to think the same. Very sensible to make sure it is what its supposed to be. Its just not an easy situation with Green Dragon and Akai Ryu. Like I said I think Akai Ryu is a lost cause - to me the description seems contradictory anyway. I do agree that If I find my Green Dragon goes completely red then I wont pass it on under this name because it doesnt match the published description.

Apologies for hijacking the thread a bit - any else have the same problem with their Green Dragon or does it always remain green around the edges? And it if does remain green then what conditions is the plant grown under as this will obviously have an influence on it....

Heather

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another thing to bare in mind is that the guy who described Akai Ryu described it appearance in his climate. How can he know that it would stay completely red under all conditions, climates etc. I doubt he would have had the time or resources to do it. Perhaps theres no difference between green and red dragon except differenced brought about by different light condition.

I personally think that any typical looking Dionaea that have can show a burgundy colouration should be grouped together under one name as the differences are not diverse enough. A red type should then only have a seperate name if it displays a clear constant difference such as overall size, teeth shape etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Adamski1973
Perhaps there's no difference between green and red dragon except differenced brought about by different light condition.

I have them side by side in identical conditions. The dragons are definitely different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have them side by side in identical conditions. The dragons are definitely different.

I mean a significant difference. For example if you had 10 of each jumbled them up would an average joe off the street, who doesnt know anthing about VFT be able to re group all twenty straight away with no problem. They could do this with say a dentate and a typical because of the clear difference, but probably wouldnt be able to do it without mistakes with a red and green dragon. They certainly wouldnt between a red dragon and say a royal red.

Edited by mantrid
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Adamski1973
I mean a significant difference. For example if you had 10 of each jumbled them up would an average joe off the street, who doesnt know anthing about VFT be able to re group all twenty straight away with no problem. They could do this with say a dentate and a typical because of the clear difference, but probably wouldnt be able to do it without mistakes with a red and green dragon. They certainly wouldnt between a red dragon and say a royal red.

Not sure about that with the green and red dragon. The red dragon stands up very vertically during summer and the "leaf" part is very thin. The green dragon is not really a vertical grower and has broader "leaves". All leaves exposed to the sun turn dark red with no green even when dormant on a red dragon. The green dragon always has some green on it no matter how much sun it gets. Maybe someone that's never seen ANY VFTs before would lump them in the same group.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not a VFT buff , by any stretch of the imagination.

But from what I have read, the general plant around , given the name Akai Ryu, does not fit the culitvar description, however much sunlight it gets.

I only have three red VFT's, and without pots (plants are in diferent shaped pots , before any wise cracks) , I could not tell you one from another.

I also have a plant labelled as Bigmouth, by the side of it I have a seed grown plant that appears identical

Edited by Davy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...