Field Trip: UCONN: Part I

Many of UCONN's Nepenthes

Back in June, the New England Carnivorous Plant Society took a trip down to the University of Connecticut (UCONN) to see their carnivorous plant collection. I ended up taking so many pictures that I have to do two blog posts about the trip! It was definitely worth a visit, if you're in the area.

Nepenthes ventricosa

UCONN's Nepenthes collection is not extensive. There really were only a handful of species, but the specimens were all quite large, and definitely interesting to see. I was surprised to see such large ventricosa (this one was on the smaller end), as not many botanical gardens/areas host even a single specimen of N. ventricosa, despite the species popularity.

Nepenthes truncata

I had to take a photo of this large N. truncata. It seems to me like every large greenhouse has one, and I can definitely see why. It produces such large pitchers! These were gigantic! The size of (slightly deflated) footballs. Quite a sight!

Male Nepenthes flower

Ah, the best part of the visit was being able to simultaneously capture photos of both male and female Nepenthes in flower, which I can use for teaching on the blog. Above, you can see a male Nepenthes flower. Below, is a female flower.

Female Nepenthes flower

I really enjoyed seeing both a male and female plant in flower (though I forgot to ask if they were being cross-pollinated), because the flowers are so unique (single-sex) and I hadn't previously had the chance to see both simultaneously.

Nepenthes maxima?

I did forget to note which species this Nepenthes was, but I believe that it is a form of Nepenthes maxima. I really liked the bright colors of this pitcher against the backdrop of green upper pitchers.

Roridula dentata

The prize of UCONN's collection was definitely the Roridula dentata. This plant (which I mistakenly called a "dewy pine" on instagram) looks like . . . well, a small pine tree with carnivorous needles. It was so large that I couldn't capture the entire thing on camera due to space restrictions. Honestly, this was the coolest thing that I saw, and definitely a plant that will be featured on this blog in the future.

Roridula dentata

You can see that Roridula is remarkable effective at capturing even large insects, and is one heck of a cool plant to see. I think this specimen is probably the largest (proto) carnivorous plant that I've seen in person, outside of some very large Nepenthes vines.

Roridula gorgonias?

At the time I was taking photos, I didn't realize that there were two species of Roridula. The above plants, growing elsewhere, may be Roridula gorgonias. It's a smaller species, but still impressive in size, being larger than most Drosera.

More tomorrow . . .