White flowers:
Even though
I was itching to get back to the field, this fellow's collection was quite
nice and it was a pleasure to view. His plants were in pots and also
planted along the margins of the pond on his property. Of course,
"wildland plantings" always
set off warning bells for me, but fortunately few of the plants looked
particularly invasive from an environmental point of view--except for one.
Aldrovanda vesiculosa had grown
like mad in the pond. Even though it was introduced to the pond just
three years ago,
it had become one of the most common
plants! I suspect it may be just a matter of time before
wildfowl transport this to natural areas. I politely commented on
this to the grower. I also took a few voucher plants to make
an herbarium specimen of this potentially invasive species! Who would
have thought that a plant that confounds so many horticulturists would
grow so rapidly in the wild?
One plant that caught my attention was this
variant Drosera tracyi that is apparently anthocyanin-free. Note the normally
pink flowers are white. The red gland tips were also lacking pigment.
