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S. Flava maxima


Guest Sw3d3

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Guest Sw3d3

my maxima (which i bought this year, as a good size plant) has pitchers that are around 7 inches tall now :) (they're still closed though).

But, they're red - solid red. Since this is supposed to be an all-green flava im a little curious. Will the plant loose its red clouring and turn to a light lime green once the pitcher hits it height limit ? or is mine retarded :D:D

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Guest Aidan

Fresh pitcher growth often starts out a shade of red and then turns green as the leaves mature.

S. flava var. maxima is not in fact an all-green plant. It gives the impression of being all-green from a distance, but red colouration may clearly be seen in the cladophyls and leaf bases.

To confuse matters entirely, there is also a plant known as S. flava "Maxima" which is a large S. flava hybrid bred by Adrian Slack. This plant is definitely not all all-green either!

Which plant is yours? :D

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Aidan,

The Slack S flava 'Maxima' is one I have, just out of interest what kind of hybrid is it? Does anybody know its parentage?

I believe it is a selected clone not a hybrid.

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S. flava "Maxima" is an intra-specific (within, rather than between, species) hybrid, produced by crossing various S. flavas, so it's still the species, S. flava, just a man-made form.

Adrian Slack never published the full details of it's parentage though, so I doubt they will ever be known. He may well of used plants of unknown intra-specific hybrid origin to breed it, who knows!

Vic

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Guest Sw3d3

alright cool, i see now, its just gonna be awkward to say 'not the slack's clone' everytime i say s. flava maxima ;)

but while we're on the subject of my plant lol, the tallest pitchers are really starting to lean towards the sun now (over the last 2 days), its almost 45 degrees lol.

does anyone rotate their sarr or do they get more vertically inclined once they get a little taller ? :D

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Guest Aidan

I made an error in my last post and have now corrected it.

If you call the plant S. flava var. maxima, (which is the correct name) we will know what you are referring to.

If the pitchers are leaning toward a light source, it would be wise to rotate the plant.

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Guest Aidan

Rant starts...

Extract from Adrian Slack's 'Insect-Eating Plants & How to grow them':

Most of the S. flava at present cultivated in Europe is of hybrid stock, and is to some degree veined in red. The vigorous selected clone S. flava var. 'Maxima' is such a one. In it the pitchers are well formed and large, usually about 75cm (30 inches) tall or more. The upper part of the pitcher and lid are golden-green, the latter being semi-circular with generally hardly any spur, and lightly veined and blotched with maroon within, while the lower part of the pitcher and the phyllodes have a characteristic blue-grey tint.

The plant is an intra-specific hybrid the parentage of which is unknown. It may include any combination of the seven currently accepted S. flava varieties in its lineage.

The name S. flava var. 'Maxima' has always been technically incorrect and was completely out of the window when Schnell separated the species into seven varieties.

The ICPS is the Cultivar Registration Authority and there is no S. 'Maxima' listed on the ICPS database. The plant has therefore not been registered as a cultivar to date.

The plant should correctly be referred to as S. flava "Maxima". The double quotes indicating that this is a named plant rather than a registered cultivar.

...Rant ends.

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Guest Sw3d3

you know the funny thing ?

Since the day i bought my maxima, i've been 100% sure its called S. Flava var. Maxima, and i've never called it anything else (S. flava "maxima" included).

i must have rushed the post and not really proof-read it (not that i've ever proof read the titles of my posts in any forum ive been in) :wink:

so er, sorry if i raised anyone's blood pressure to dangerous levels :roll:

:lol:

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  • 11 months later...
Guest Sw3d3

Wow, old topic...

The typical: S. flava var. maxima

http://www-cp.stech.co.jp/cp/img/sarra/S-flva-maxima01.jpg

S. flava "maxima" is:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wb.sherren/ot...va%20maxima.jpg

Note the red colouration in the throat.

Photos taken from the carnivorous plant photofinder:

http://www.humboldt.edu/~rrz7001/Sarracenia.html

edit: seems Aidan beat me to it, the post didn't show on my first view, oh well... i've got photos 8)

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i always refer to the slack cultivar as 'slacks maxima'.

Its very distinct and one can easily pick it out from dozens of other flavas.

I have grown it outside in northern England for around 15 years. It is varaiable depending upon conditions, mine reach a maximum size of 28 inches, whereas i saw Mike Kings 2005 greenhouse grown plants were taller with far wider and overall better developed tops. Ive found that clones of other sarras can be suprisingly different when grown under glass/outside. My catesbaei cross from marston exotics was very solid, upright standing and dark red when i first got it around 1991 (greenhouse grown) since then its been outside (south facing)and despite growing into massive clumps the pitchers are generally smaller with thinner bases and green and red, only on occasional years do i get some of the first pitchers like they were originally. I think the plants almost adapt themselves to the new conditions, not sure if this is 'adaptive' in the biological sense or merely forced upon them by the prevailing conditions.

austin.

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