Jump to content

Ptari tepui


Recommended Posts

Ptari is home of one spectacular Heliamphora species - H. sarracenioides. One of the reasons why we had to visit that mountain. In early 2009 it was (and still is?) a quite new species; informations were few, and only few people had seen this plant in habitat before. But on Ptari it is quite common, and easily be found everywhere on the mountain top, where it grows in nice patches.

sarr1.jpg

sarr2.jpg

A typical plant with the elongated, erect hood:

sarr3.jpg

Most plants were dark red and nearly black inside.

sarr6.jpg

In some plants the hood is less slender, and shows signs of a typical Heliamphora nectar spoon. Maybe hybridization?

sarr5.jpg

Even better to see here:

sarr4.jpg

These forms were also more orange in colour. But maybe just the range of the natural variation?

As described now, H. sarracenioides hybridizes easily with its companion plant (see below), therefore I tend to believe hybrids here.

This other Heliamphora species on the mountain top was the now new decribed H. purpurascens, that has a special tubular shape and prominent nectar spoon (and of course this beautiful colour):

shet1.jpg

shet2w.jpg

Some of the plants were dark red,

shet3.jpg

some nearly black:

shet4.jpg

The new pitchers show beautiful colours in yellow and bright red:

shet5.jpg

On the open plateau, Heliamphora only grow in very wet areas, sometimes in the water. A nice group along a little pool:

shet6.jpg

Maybe at the vertical cliffs, were conditions are different (esp. shadier), new species are still awaiting their discovery? But without the necessary equipment, these spots were out of reach for us. Future expeditions will show.

Of course Heliamphora weren't the only cp's we found. And of course there were great non-carnivorous plants as well. I will show you some of these in part III of this fieldtrip.

Hope you like it -

Martin

Edited by Martin Hingst
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beautiful....and now I understand why they hold the name sarracenioides. :shock:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome photos, the colors are so vibrant.

It's great to see those plants in their natural habitat!

Nadja

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks again for your nice comments :laugh1:

Dani - it is possible- if you want take the efforts! Give good light with a fair ammount of UV (e.g. HCI lights) and ensure temperatures not higher than 25°C /day, and a night drop down to 10°C-12°C - and the plants will get blood red! (if that was so simple...)

Fernando - there was indeed a difference in the habitats of those two species:

H. sarracenioides always grew in more established, grassy vegetation, while H. heterodoxa is able to grow already in thin moss pads on nearly bare rock, or in nearly poor water. It is what I would call "earlier pioneer plant" and has a locational advantage over H. sarracenioides there. It is often found in little plant islands as seen in the last picture.

These "plant islands" really fascinated me - I will show you some more in part III.

Regards

Martin

Edited by Martin Hingst
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantastic pics Martin, looks like you've been a busy boy while I've been away!! Seems like you're becoming quite the explorer these days too, hopefully we can look forward to more fab pic in the future. Many thanks for sharing these pics with us all.

Btw - totally unrelated but I came back to find the alpina x campbelliana you sent me to be flowering and a very nice flower it is too!! I must remember to take a picture :laugh:

Heather

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Heather,

busy...well I think I have been quite lazy with my fieltrip reports (this trip is more than a year ago) :banana: but I will post some more pics soon.

And congrats to your axc flower- yes a picture would be nice :Laie_71mini:

Regards

Martin

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...