Pollinating Sarracenia

[alcran]

I was recently honored by David by being asked to write an article about pollination of sarracenia. This is a great honor and I hope that I can explain it well enough for all of the members of this forum.

First, every spring as they come out of dormancy, sarracenia produce one flower per mature growth point. The flower is the first thing to appear and in most species develops before the pitchers to protect pollinators. The flower will grow taller until it is 6 inches in the shortest species to 2 feet in the tallest. When it is done growing the bud will turn downwards and begin to swell. Soon, it will open. Typical flowers have 5 petals and 5 sepals. There is also an umbrella shaped structure at the bottom of the flower. The pollen, when ripe will collect on the umbrella structure. At the tips of the umbrella where it is closest to the rest of the flower are 5 bumps, one for each point. These are the stigmas of the flowers. When you lift the petals of the flower you will be able to see ripe pollen and the stigmas. Take the pollen with a swab and apply some to a stigma. Repeat to ensure pollination and a heavier seed set. The flower will lose its petals and turn upwards when it is pollinated. Several months later the pod, located above the umbrella will swell and crack open. There can be as many as 200 seeds. There is a way to get mature plants very fast by growing under light 24 hours a day for 2 years, but that is for another article.

Here is an example of a flower. This one is from S. minor "okee giant."


Here, you can see the umbrella structure.


Here, you can see the stigma and antlers where pollen is produced. The tiny bump on the left is the stigma while the yellow sacs are the antlers. They will produce pollen when ripe.


I hope you enjoyed my article and learned a little more. Thank You.