ASM 2011 Conference: New Orleans

I have arrived in lovely New Orleans! For the next couple of days, I'll be spending my time at the general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in lovely New Orleans. I'm here at what will likely be my last ASM conference with the Slonczewski Lab from Kenyon College, where we are presenting our recent work on multi-drug efflux pumps, pH homeostasis, and fluorescence microscopy. It's really a great education for the undergraduates that my PI, Dr. Joan Slonczewski, brings along to the meeting.

The opening session was this evening and, I think, much better than the previous two years. Each of the three lectures was intriguing, accessible, and well-prepared. I was reassured that I will be heading off to graduate school in the right direction - evolution and ecology - by the fact that I found the lecture by Dr. Nicole Dubilier on symbiotic relationships between sulfur-oxidizing bacteria and marine invertebrates most enjoyable. Similarly, last year in San Diego at ASM 2010, I thought the best opening lecture was that by Dr. Nancy Moran, who spoke about her work on the relationship between endosymbiotic bacteria and leafhoppers that I wrote about last year.

The second lecture by Dr. Liping Zhao was equally fascinating. He discussed what eating well does for us physically via our microbial gut flora. This work has been in the news somewhat, but I found the thorough lecture perfect for tying together all the disparate pieces of the story. His work shows that for morbidly obese people, a change in diet from a high fat, low fiber diet to a more sensible one allows the microbiome in the gut to shift from an abundance of pathogenic organisms that can cause longterm disease to beneficial and benign organisms. For some reason, the attendees at the reception after the lectures seemed much more restrained around the over-abundance of food in the exhibit hall...

The last lecture, which I found the most difficult to follow from the detail and fast pace, was on environmental stressors that can trigger heritable changes in the organisms studied, mostly yeast. We're not talking Lamarckian giraffe's neck scale of environmentally acquired traits, but the analogy was striking.

That's all for now, but I may check in at least once more during the meeting if I'm not too exhausted in the evenings. Tomorrow we dine at the Court of Two Sisters, which sounds exciting.

Backyard biology: New greenhouse

Since I've made the decision to accept my admission offer to Ohio State University's Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology PhD program beginning in autumn 2011, assuring my presence in central Ohio for several more years, Adam and I decided to take advantage of a great deal on a greenhouse:

Yes, it's a rickety aluminum-frame polycarbonate panel 6' × 8' that probably won't retain very much heat in an Ohio winter, but at least I have something I've always wanted! Adam and I spent last weekend digging out the site, leveling the foundation lumber, and hauling stone to fill in the base. Once the landscaping grows in, we should have a fantastic little hide-away nook behind the greenhouse, perfect for an Adirondack chair or two.


The greenhouse will not be heated much in the winter, making it the perfect spot to overwinter hibernating Sarracenia, like those I just received from the North American Sarracenia Conservancy (NASC).

 These Sarracenia alata seedlings are propagated by members of the Grower Committee at NASC from legally-collected parent plants to maintain the genetic variety of these rare and threatened carnivorous plants. The plants I received today were from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. If I do everything right, they'll grow, flower, and possibly be reintroduced in suitable locations. Many of the plants NASC acquires are from boggy habitats that are bulldozed in the name of progress or road widening. This is an excellent example of ex-situ conservation and is meant to be a complementary component to land acquisition and conservation easements (in-situ conservation).

I suppose I'm still thrilled with the idea of having my own greenhouse just steps away, but I imagine I will become less enthusiastic about it this winter when I need to trudge out there through feet of snow.

Is the common teasel carnivorous?

Dipsacus fullonum, the common teasel. An "urn" type
water storage, where dead arthropods collect.
Source: Björn Appel at Wikimedia Commons.

Dipsacus fullonum, the common teasel or Fuller's teasel, is an asterid native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, but is also introduced (and sometimes naturalized) in many other parts of the world, including North America. You would probably recognize it as a common weed with the distinctive comb-like inflorescence. 19th century naturalists recorded finding dead arthropods in the water-collecting cups formed by the fusion of leaves around the stem. Early suspicions for this structure focused on a protective function, since ants are unlikely to cross the water barrier to prey on the flowers.


However, the idea that the plant could be deriving some benefit from the dead insects evolved at least as early as 1877 when Francis Darwin, who, possibly influenced by his father's book, Insectivorous Plants published in 1875, submitted a paper on the topic to be published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Since then, there have been additional field observations and laboratory experimentation, especially those of Miller Christy in the 1920s, but, as F. E. Lloyd noted in his 1942 tome The Carnivorous Plants, there still was no experimental proof of carnivory. So does the common teasel derive any benefit from the prey it captures in the water urn?


The short answer is yes. Now we have experimental evidence that suggests the plants derive benefit from feeding dead dipteran larvae. Peter J. A. Shaw and Kyle Shackleton of Whitelands College, Roehampton University in London described their results in a recent article published in PLoS ONE. They found that while supplemental feedings of larvae to the plant did not increase overall above-ground biomass, both the seed biomass and seed mass-to-biomass ratio were significantly larger in plants that were fed. The authors note that the results need to be replicated, but this initial finding suggests Dipsacus fullonum meets one of the criteria to be considered a carnivorous (or paracarnivorous) plant.


Bravo to the researchers. It will certainly be interesting to see how the carnivorous plant research and enthusiast community reacts to this news. It's still uncertain how the plant derives the benefit from prey, but it's becoming more clear that Dipsacus fullonum is a candidate for status as a carnivorous plant. What exactly is a carnivorous plant, though? The exact criteria for establishing evolved carnivory and not just a happy paracarnivorous accident has been debated for years and will be the subject of a later post.

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Shaw PJ, & Shackleton K (2011). Carnivory in the Teasel Dipsacus fullonum - The Effect of Experimental Feeding on Growth and Seed Set. PloS one, 6 (3) PMID: 21445274

Nepenthes!

Nepenthes! I've had a proliferation of Nepenthes putting out pitchers, so I went around taking photos today. From the top left across the rows: Nepenthes boschiana × densiflora, N. jamban, N. maxima × trusmadiensis, N. alata, N. ventricosa (? from Lowe's), Nepenthes "Miranda", N. mikei, unknown Nepenthes hybrid that looks like Nepenthes x henryana to me, and N. mikei again.

I've been growing Nepenthes for about 5 years, but until now I have not had any flower for me. And of course, it had to be the one that I rescued from the Lowe's deathcube!

Nepenthes ventricosa with inflorescence from a Lowe's deathcube

Utricularia sucks: Aquatic carnivorous plants that evolved vacuum traps

"Hi." Trap of Utricularia inflata, clearly showing
the door, trigger hairs, and concave walls.
Scale bar = 500 μm
Source: Vincent et al., 2011.

Utricularia, commonly known as the bladderworts, is a genus of approximately 230 species of carnivorous plants that have evolved an amazing suction trap to supplement their nutrient requirements by trapping and digesting convenient little arthropoid or crustacean packets of nitrogen, phosphorous, and other essential chemicals. Not all species are aquatic, as this cosmopolitan genus has also evolved species with lithophytic (growing in or on rocks), epiphytic, and terrestrial habits.

The rootless aquatic species are most notable for their tiny underwater bladder-shaped traps dotting the web-like system of stolons like aquatic chandeliers. Each trap is only a few millimeters long or less and possess a trap door surrounded by sensitive hairs that trigger the trap door mechanism to open, quickly sweeping the water - and any tasty prey contained therein - adjacent to the trap into the bladder. Keep in mind that each trap is only two cell layers thick when considering the pressure differentials and forces involved in prey capture.


Gazing upon this wondrously evolved botanical curiosity, naturalists in the 19th century thought that it was a passive system as comically illustrated in F. E. Lloyd's 1942 book on carnivorous plants (see below). Charles Darwin and others thought prey was simply enticed into entering the trap, much like a mouse entering a passive mousetrap. Since that time, and thanks to Lloyd's research in the early 20th century, we now know that the bladder traps of Utricularia are much more complex, involving the active setting of a trap and a rapid response once triggered, as illustrated in Lloyd's figure (below), which can only be described as the potential inspiration for the elaborate and beguiling board game Mouse Trap. Rube Goldberg would be proud!

Source: F.E. Lloyd. 1942. The Carnivorous Plants. Waltham, Mass.: Chronica Botanica Co.
The description is too long to reproduce here, but the following amused me: "...which allows the lever l to swing
downwards when the door is actuated again by, it is confidently hoped, a second mouse. In the meantime, the mouse
first caught can employ his time admiring the interior effect, and possibly suggest improvements." (pg. 267)

So by the mid-20th century, we had a pretty good idea of how these traps worked. Water is pumped out of the trap, producing the familiar "set" concave wall appearance. An unlucky crustacean, perhaps a Daphnia, swims too close to the trigger hairs, which relays that signal to the trap door, which swings open so quickly, no one had been able to quantify it before now. And here's where the exciting new research comes in. Physicists decided to record prey capture using high-speed cameras and measure the morphology of the door as it opens. The best thing about this, I believe, is that they put all of their supplemental material on YouTube.






The above video from the new article shows a copepod from the genus Cyclops being trapped by a Utricularia inflata bladder. The whole process occurs in less than one millisecond and is thus one of the fastest plant movements known. The poor little copepod seems utterly stunned. And no wonder! Olivier Vincent at the Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique, University of Grenoble and colleagues estimated that fluid velocities entering the trap can reach 1.5 meters per second (approximately 3.4 miles per hour) with maximum fluid accelerations of 600g. (Most humans lose consciousness at 4-6g.) Furthermore, in the video above you'll notice the copepod swirls down and around in the trap. The authors propose an interesting idea, that the trap morphology propels prey forward, then down into a swirling motion, preventing the immediate escape before the trap door closes again.

More impressive is the work they did investigating the door morphology as it opens. I can only imagine how precise this microscope, camera, and laser setup had to be in order to capture the exact moment when the door buckles and lets water flow in:






The also produced a dynamic simulation of the door opening:






So there we have it. Amazing new research adds to our understanding of one of the most unique carnivorous plant capture mechanisms. We've come a long way from Darwin's day and I certainly hope there's more to uncover. I'll leave us with just one more video, produced directly by the authors and posted on YouTube:

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References:

Vincent O, Weißkopf C, Poppinga S, Masselter T, Speck T, Joyeux M, Quilliet C, & Marmottant P (2011). Ultra-fast underwater suction traps. Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society PMID: 21325323

IPPP #3: Pinguicula primuliflora

The third installment of the Infrequent Plant Profile Project, a project I began a while ago at my old livejournal account. I know that I will not stick to a schedule if I designed one, so I choose to make this project informal and infrequent. These will be profiles of plants that interest me and of the circumstances of their original description.

Pinguicula primulaflora "Rose" - the multiple-flowered variety
Source: Alexander (fischermans) at the International Carnivorous
Plant Society forums.

Today's species is Pinguicula primuliflora C.E.Wood & R.K.Godfrey, the primrose butterwort, is a carnivorous plant from the Southeast United States. As a member of the carnivorous plant genus Pinguicula (family Lentibulariaceae), this species shares the characteristic fleshy, sticky leaves that capture and digest arthropod prey that are unable to escape. This provides the plants with nutrients that are lacking or unavailable from the peaty or sandy soils they inhabit.

A photo of one of my first plants, which
I quickly killed due to my inexperience
growing this genus. I've had much more
success now.

Pinguicula primuliflora was first described by American botanists Carroll Emory Wood and Robert Kenneth Godfrey in a 1957 paper published in Rhodora, the journal of New England Botanical Club. Their work at the time was focused on researching the flora of the southeastern United States. In the course of their work, they made many collections, including other well-known species from the region, including P. caerulea, P. lutea, P. pumila, and P. planifolia. Their specimens revealed a fifth species that had not previously been described. Pinguicula primuliflora is found from southwestern Georgia and western Florida to southern Mississippi. It is distinguished from the other southeastern species by its showy Primula-like flower and its unusual ecology for a Pinguicula, being found in the shade of evergreen shrubs and wherever there is flowing water.

It is surprising that a species could have been overlooked by so many botanists working in the southeastern US until 1957 when P. primuliflora was formally described. This just goes to show how important extensive research into the flora of a region is. It also provides us with an example of how rigorous research, a large sample size, and careful measurements of morphological characteristics of closely-related species can reveal unique populations worthy of recognition at the rank of species or subspecies.

Today, P. primulaflora is one of the most widely-cultivated Pinguicula species and can be found frequently in hardware stores, often in the appropriately-named "Death Cubes." It is a prolific species, producing many rooted clones where leaves touch the soil substrate. Many cultivars of this species exist, including a spectacular double-flowered variety (pictured above)

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C.E. Wood Jr., & R.K. Godfrey (1957). Pinguicula (Lentibulariaceae) in the southeastern United States. Rhodora, 59, 217-230

A Genlisean Effort: A Tale of Two Trans-Atlantic Dispersal Events in the Carnivorous Plant Genus Genlisea

An illustration from 1858 on the closed and open Atlantic Ocean.

South America and Africa look like they fit together snuggly, like puzzle pieces. It's so intuitive that children can grasp this notion without the aid of a formal education in geology. As an accepted theory, plate tectonics draws on evidence from several supporting disciplines, including paleontology and biogeography. Paleontology and geology are, of course, the primary fields where evidence for continental drift arises, the theory being largely proven by work from the recently deceased Dr. Jack Oliver.

Evidence also comes in the form of the remarkably similar flora and fauna and the evolutionary patterns found within certain taxa. However, we must be careful with examinations of extant plant species. Despite the great distance, a remarkable number of plant genera have made the journey and now have established representative species on both sides of the Atlantic. Susanne Renner, of the University of Missouri and Missouri Botanical Garden at the time, published a review in 2004 of the 110 flowering plant genera in 53 families that have dispersed across the Atlantic. She based her work on a 1973 publication by the botanist Robert Thorne (of the Thorne system of classification) and expounded on the likely dispersal routes. Thorne, who lacked key data from gene sequences, identified 111 genera with trans-Atlantic dispersals. With the advantage of 31 years and molecular clock data, Renner revised this number by subtracting genera proven to not be monophyletic and adding previously unrecognized genera. Most of these dispersals appear to be recent in terms of geological time and water currents can carry dispersal in both directions across the Atlantic, while wind currents are typically only responsible for transport from South America to Africa. Renner also thoroughly discounts the common speculation that plant trans-Atlantic plant dispersal could have been aided by birds, noting that it's unlikely given the circumstances of bird migration, dispersal, and digestion (frugivorous birds empty their guts frequently, so it is unlikely any seed eaten would survive the journey).

Genlisea violacea.
Photo source: Noah Elhardt

Renner, writing in 2004, does note that one genus, Genlisea, has a disjunct distribution due to "entry from the boreotropics" instead of long-distance dispersal. In other words, the evidence at the time pointed to a larger northern hemisphere distribution of the genus that crossed the North Atlantic either on then-connected land masses or over short spans of water. She therefore excludes it from her analysis.

Genlisea is an interesting genus of about 22 species found in tropical South and Central America and Africa, including Madagascar. The center of diversity in South America appears to be in Brazil, where up to seven species may be found in one area. The species, commonly called corkscrew plants, are carnivorous, specializing in protozoans and small crustaceans. They're also rootless. The semi-aquatic or terrestrial plants are anchored by their corkscrew-shaped traps that are actually modified subterranean leaves or highly modified stolons. There are some lovely publications out there with nice SEM images of the traps, but most are being paywalls, so you can feast your eyes upon these. Further, the entire Lentibulariaceae family, of which three carnivorous genera (Genlisea, Pinguicula, and Utricularia) seems to be undergoing really rapid evolution to the point that some species, such as Genlisea margaretae, are shedding their genomes. Genlisea margaretae in particular currently holds the title for smallest known angiosperm (flowering plant) genome, with some chromosomes as small as bacterial chromosomes. Researchers believe that this rapid evolution could be the result of significant mutations they found in the key respiratory enzyme cytochrome c oxidase, which could be producing more reactive oxygen species, causing great damage to the plant's DNA, including whole helix-breaks and nucleotide substitutions.

Current distribution of Genlisea; colors indicate number of species in a given area. Figure from:
Fleischmann et al. 2010. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 56: 768-783.

But beyond their fascinating morphology, carnivorous habits, and genetics, Gelisea are an interesting genus for their trans-Atlantic dispersal, now supported by data published in 2010. The data, consisting of three chloroplast DNA sequences from as many species as they could get their hands on, collected by Andreas Fleischmann and his colleagues indicate that the genus originated in the Neotropics, likely in present-day Brazil. There are two main divisions in the genus, one of which is wholly confined to South America (subgenus Tayloria). The other subgenus (Genlisea) originated in Africa, but one small clade of this subgenus are only found in the Neotropics. The authors first weigh the arguments for an ancient emergence of Lentibulariaceae when South America and Africa were still connected as Gondwana, but this idea is rejected since the family Lentibulariaceae is known to be relatively younger than the Gondwanan breakup. Instead, they propose the remarkable idea that the genus was established in Brazil, dispersed to Africa (likely by fast-moving currents in the Atlantic on "floating mats"), diverged and evolved in Africa, then made a second dispersal back to South America, where a group of species, which have a greater morphological and genetic affinity to those found in Africa, are located. Their case for this theory is well-supported. Just think about how amazing this is, though. Two dispersal events: a colonization of Brazil by subgenus Tayloria, then long-distance dispersal to Africa (founding subgenus Genlisea), a speciation event in Africa, a dispersal back to Brazil and subsequent re-colonization by members of subgenus Genlisea. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted just thinking about the magnitude of this herculean genlisean effort.

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References:
Renner, S. (2004). Plant Dispersal across the Tropical Atlantic by Wind and Sea Currents International Journal of Plant Sciences, 165 (S4) DOI: 10.1086/383334

Fleischmann, A., Schäferhoff, B., Heubl, G., Rivadavia, F., Barthlott, W., & Müller, K. (2010). Phylogenetics and character evolution in the carnivorous plant genus Genlisea A. St.-Hil. (Lentibulariaceae) Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 56 (2), 768-783 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2010.03.009

Honey Run Waterfall

Topographical map of Ohio with Knox County
outlined. Adapted from the Ohio Department
of Natural Resources (link).

Knox County, Ohio has the advantage of straddling a geological transition zone between the glaciated and unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. The county seat, Mount Vernon, lies in the valley in the western part of the county, on the leading edge of the Wisconsin glacier (the most recent glacial period). The glacier entered the county from the West and pushed toward the East. Of course glaciation ebbs and flows. While Mount Vernon abuts the firm boundary of Wisconsin-glaciated features, the glacier had pushed eastward as to the edge of the county at some points, leaving only the extreme northeast unglaciated. My copy of the 1961 State of Ohio Department of Natural Resources' report on the geology of Knox County (by Samuel I. Root, Joaquin Rodriguez, and Jane L. Forsyth) shows the boundary near Mount Vernon to be a differentiation between the recent Wisconsin glaciation and the distant Illinois glaciation that pushed further East than the Wisconsin.

Of course lower elevation river valleys conduct glacial activity and the prominent Kokosing River flows eastward through the county. East of Mount Vernon is the little unincorporated community of Millwood and the Honey Run Waterfall area, owned by the Knox County Park District. It's a fantastic park with hiking trails and the only waterfall in Knox County. Honey Run empties directly into the Kokosing River in an area with excellent examples of blackhand sandstone, perhaps better known from the Hocking Hills area of Ohio. Surrounding the Honey Run park are ground moraines and terminal moraines of Illinois glaciation derivation. The blackhand sandstone formations in and along the Kokosing River appear to be Wisconsin rock terraces. This unique area in Knox County also provides local nature enthusiasts with a drastically different flora to study. Here we find a disjunct boreal habitat more often found in Canada today. There are large hemlocks that dominate the view of the waterfall, teetering precariously on sandstone cliffs. I always love going to this park for that not-of-this-state feeling with its aberrant geology and flora. It just doesn't feel like Ohio, or at least how I think Ohio should feel - you know, plains full of corn, wheat, and soy. It's true that's how much of Western Ohio appears, but here? Here is a little slice of Canada (or at least its typical boreal habitat) in the middle of Knox County.

And if you've never been to Ohio, I bet you always thought it was completely flat. Surprise!

Honey Run Waterfall in February.

The Kokosing River at Honey Run, looking West. Notice the Blackhand
sandstone on either side of the river. Taken in October.

The sandstone is really easy to write in. Antique graffiti.

Cladonia furcata, I think - a grey reindeer lichen.

8th International Carnivorous Plant Society Conference (1/2)

Hortus Botanicus, Leiden, the Netherlands

In the beginning of August, I and approximately 120 other participants traveled to Leiden, the Netherlands, for the 8th International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS) conference held at the amazing Hortus Botanicus. The conference was hosted by the Dutch carnivorous plant society, Carnivora, and they did a fantastic job organizing the lectures, associated carnivorous plant exhibit, and all the extras. This will serve as my trip report for this meeting.


I arrived jet-lagged on 5 August, flights courtesy of my generous brother-in-law who shared his excess frequent flier miles. (Thanks, Doug!) I hadn't been to Europe in 9 years and I've never been outside the historic splendor of Italy, so this was a real treat to spend a little less than a week really getting to know Leiden. I was immediately awe-struck by the impressive Dutch rail system and how easy, clean, and fast it was. It puts the US Amtrak system to shame (but really, what doesn't?). Leiden is just a single stop from the Amsterdam area airport Schiphol; what a beautiful city! I learned a few lessons while here: Nearly every Leiden resident is willing to help you with directions and are used to it since their city is a confusing network of small alleys interrupted by canals. Nearly every resident speaks excellent English and are more than willing to try it out on a native English speaker. And, at every opportunity, go for a walk. This city is extremely walkable and gorgeous, filled with history and beautiful architecture. This is the city where Rembrandt was born in 1606, where one of Barack Obama's ancestors, Thomas Blossom, lived as an English immigrant on his way to America with a group of Pilgrims (the Dutch are very proud of that connection to Obama and had a very prominent plaque in the square where the Pilgrims once lived), and where Anna Cornelia Carbentus, Vincent van Gogh's mother, is buried. The central city is compact, ringed by a many-pointed star-shaped canal built for defense purposes and dotted with impressive public parks. Who can resist such European charm?

One of the many amazing displays in the
Wintergarden at Hortus Botanicus, part
of the public exhibition complementing
the ICPS conference. Bravo!

Putting my awe aside and getting over the jet-lag-induced migraine, I ambled down the road the next morning, avoiding the plentiful bicycle commuters and entered the gates of the Hortus Botanicus, the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands. Hortus Botanicus Leiden was first begun as a project for university students of medicine in the late 16th century; the very first prefect of the gardens was the famous Carolus Clusius, whose bust greets you as you enter the gardens. The weather was perfect and mild, especially inviting to someone escaping the heat of the Midwest United States in normally sweltering August. I was awash in a multicultural group, understanding very little (ok, perhaps nothing) of the many languages being spoken over my head. It was awesome and a bit intimidating. After checking in, it was just about time for the first of many lecture sessions.


The first lecture session included a talk by Australia's Allen Lowrie on Australian Drosera (sundews), a discussion by Gert Hoogenstrijd on his trips through Venezuela to the Table Mountains where many rare carnivorous plants are found, a report by François Mey on his incredible efforts to study the Nepenthes flora of Indochina, and lastly a thorough trip-report style lecture by Andreas Fleischmann on the Drosera and Roridula of South Africa. Truly a cosmopolitan collection of speakers and topics! I really do commend the organizers on working very hard to include something for everyone.

Allen's lecture captivated me the most, but the take-home message from all lectures seemed to be that there is so much more work to do in terms of systematic study of species, specimens, and species complexes to tease out the real evolutionary relationships and taxonomies. This was true for Allen's Drosera and Gert's Heliamphora and certainly the Nepenthes of Indochina have their own systematic issues when it comes to the circumscription of species, subspecies, and varieties. Such topics are best left to the experts and it was great to see such expertise on display.

Sarracenia flava var. cuprea in the impressive

Wintergarden canopy walk above the main collection.

The Drosera fascinate me most of all, so I suppose this is why I found Allen's lecture the most compelling. My notes are scattered since he spoke quickly, but there were many gems within his lecture, including the fact that there's an Australian Drosera in the petiolaris complex that survives under water for one and a half months among tadpoles and that there are so many truly distinct species to split from existing species complexes. The breadth of his knowledge on the topic comes from decades of field work that allows him to accurately distinguish minute differences among populations. My notes from Gert's lecture are sparse, but one interesting note is that the South American endemic species Utricularia quelchii is likely pollinated by hummingbirds. A common characteristic all these lectures shared was the splendid and impressive photos displayed during each one. I can hardly imagine what previous generations of botanists did without digital cameras!

I'll stop here and post the remaining trip report, including two more days of lectures, later.

Nepenthes 'Alata'

It's always interesting to go back through old photos and realize how your plant specimens have grown, given the proper care and treatment. I happened to pick up this Nepenthes 'Alata' from Oakland Nurseries in Delaware, Ohio in August 2007. It had a Deroose Plants tag on it, so it is likely is the Nepenthes 'Alata' cultivar that they produce. I'm not sure of the hybrid parentage, but it obviously has heavy Nepenthes alata influences.

28 August 2007, right after I first got her.

13 August 2008. Almost a year later and she has grown so much! Still in the original pot, but not for long.

3 October 2010. I moved her to the Kenyon College greenhouse and repotted in a much larger container. She has gotten so large now that I tie up the longest lianas on the greenhouse infrastructure. The longest liana measures at over ten feet and she's still growing!