Sun Pitcher (Marsh Pitcher)

Heliamphora minor is one of the smallest marsh or sun pitchers, with pitchers only about 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) tall. It grows wild only on Auyán-tepui, a table mountain in Venezuela, and is one of the more widely available species in cultivation and one the ICPS recommends to beginners.

Like all Heliamphora, H. minor grows from an underground rhizome and forms rosettes of tubular pitchers made of rolled leaves with fused edges. Instead of a lid, each pitcher carries a small 'nectar spoon' at the top of the back rim; in H. minor the spoon sits on a narrow stalk, one of the features that separates it from the related H. pulchella. Each pitcher also has a small drainage hole or slit in its side that lets surplus rainwater escape, a feature found in no other pitcher plant genus.

As its name (Latin minor, smaller) suggests, it is one of the smallest species in the genus, with pitchers usually 10-15 cm (4-6 in) tall. It is closely related to H. ciliata and H. pulchella; H. pulchella was long treated as a hairy form of H. minor. Two varieties are recognized: var. minor and var. pilosa, which has conspicuously hairy pitchers.

Heliamphora flowers are monocot-like in appearance, with four to six tepals, and in cultivation they must be pollinated by hand.

የትውልድ ክልል: Auyán-tepui, Bolívar, Venezuela (endemic)

የአየር ንብረት ቀጠናዎች: Cool, very wet tropical highland (tepui); grown indoors elsewhere

H. minor is endemic to Auyán-tepui in the Guiana Highlands of Venezuela, where Barry Rice suggests its small size may protect it from harsh conditions. The genus list records it at about 1,650-2,500 m (5,400-8,200 ft). Tepui summits are sandstone plateaus with near-constant rain, cold but generally frost-free nights and day temperatures mostly between about 7 and 23°C (45-74°F). Soil is scarce: where any exists it is sand, rock and decomposed plant matter, and plants often grow partly submerged or flooded by daily showers.

የበሰለ መጠን: Pitchers about 4-6 in (10-15 cm) tall; forms clumps of rosettes

የእድገት መጠን: Slow

የወጥመድ ዓይነት: Pitfall Trap

The pitchers are simple pitfall traps. Insects, mostly ants in the genus, are drawn by color and by nectar produced on the nectar spoon at the top of the pitcher. Downward-pointing hairs on the inner wall push visitors toward the base, where they drown in collected rainwater. The drainage hole keeps the water at a constant maximum level. Field studies found that H. minor does not produce its own protein-digesting enzymes; it relies on bacteria living in the pitcher fluid to break down prey.

Heliamphora pitchers have an overflow hole, a feature found in no other pitcher plant genus.
The genus name was intended as 'marsh pitcher' (Greek helos, marsh), but is often read as 'sun pitcher' (helios, sun).
H. minor is one of the smallest species in the genus.
A form with hairy pitchers, var. pilosa, was described as a new variety in a paper dated 2011.
The ICPS lists typical H. minor among the easiest Heliamphora for beginners.

The genus was founded on H. nutans, which Robert Schomburgk collected in 1839 and George Bentham named in 1840. It remained the only known species until Henry Allan Gleason described H. tatei and H. tyleri in 1931. Gleason added H. minor in 1939, in a paper with E.P. Killip on the flora of Mount Auyán-tepui. In 1984 Julian Steyermark described a form laevis, now treated as part of var. minor, and in 2011 Andreas Fleischmann and J.R. Grande Allende described var. pilosa.

Heliamphora has been in cultivation for over 130 years, but plants were rare until the 1990s, when new clones propagated by sterile (tissue) culture made them widely available.

1. Heliamphora minor, Wikipedia
2. Heliamphora, Wikipedia
3. Growing Heliamphora, International Carnivorous Plant Society
4. Heliamphora: the marsh (or sun) pitchers, The Carnivorous Plant FAQ (Barry Rice)
5. Heliamphora from the eastern ranges, The Carnivorous Plant FAQ (Barry Rice)
6. Heliamphora cultivation, The Carnivorous Plant FAQ (Barry Rice)