A Texan plant:
Phil has done a lot of fieldwork over the years. Above is a specimen of the famous "areolated" form
of Sarracenia alata from Texas. Do you see the pale dots on the tube? It evokes
Sarracenia leucophylla, does it not? These areolated plants are the cause of
endless interesting speculation. Is it possible that, somehow a time long ago, genes of
Sarracenia leucophylla managed to flow from
Alabama, across the stretches of Sarracenia-free landscape of western Louisiana, into Texas?
It that the explanation for the appearance of areolated Sarracenia alata in our modern
era?
Is it possible that such gene flow also explains the occasional tiny amounts of pink blush that may occur in the flowers of
Texan Sarracenia alata plants,
as I documented on this trip to Texas?
Speculation is so easy, when we are unfettered by facts!
