Moctezuma Butterwort

Taxonomie

Familial:	Lentibulariaceae
Gen:	Pinguicula
Comanda:	Lamiales

Prezentare generală

Pinguicula moctezumae is a Mexican butterwort with long, narrow, upright leaves and large pink to violet-purple flowers with a very long spur. It grows only on wet limestone deposits in the canyon of the Río Moctezuma, on the border of Querétaro and Hidalgo, and was discovered in 1994.

P. moctezumae is a perennial rosette plant with two kinds of leaves. The 'summer' leaves, 8 to 15 (rarely 20) per rosette, are erect, linear to lance-linear, pale green, (50) 60-100 (130) mm long and only 5-8 mm wide at the base, with rolled-back margins and a dense covering of sessile and stalked glands. Young leaves have an incurved or spiralling tip. The 'winter' leaves, 20 to 30, are thick, elliptic and only 5-30 mm long, forming a compact resting rosette.

One to five slender flower stalks, 7-14 cm (3-5.5 in) tall, each carry a single large flower 45-55 mm long including the spur. The corolla is deeply two-lipped, pink or violet-purple with a white throat, with round lobes that often overlap; the cylindrical spur is 28-35 mm long. The authors placed it in section Orcheosanthus, subsection Violiformis, next to P. gypsicola, whose narrow leaves it closely resembles; its larger flowers with round, overlapping lobes recall P. colimensis.

Informații geografice

Regiunea natală: Río Moctezuma canyon, Querétaro and Hidalgo, Mexico (endemic)

Zone climatice: Subtropical canyon seeps with a dry season

It grows on concretions of calcium carbonate (tufa) in the beds of small streams and on rock walls with seeping water, on limestone slopes at 900-1,100 m (2,950-3,600 ft) in the canyon of the Río Moctezuma, which forms the border between the states of Querétaro and Hidalgo. The authors called the habitat subaquatic, a feature that also separates it from P. gypsicola. The type locality lies in the municipality of Cadereyta, Querétaro; the plant was first found between the dam wall and the powerhouse of the Zimapán hydroelectric project.

Caracteristici fizice

Dimensiune pentru persoane mature: Leaves 2.4-4 in (6-10 cm) long, up to 5 in (13 cm); flower stalks 3-5.5 in (7-14 cm)

Rata de creștere: Moderate

Tipul capcanei: Flypaper Trap

The upper surfaces of the summer leaves are densely covered with sessile and stalked glands. Sticky mucilage on the leaves holds small insects such as fungus gnats, which are digested on the leaf. As in other heterophyllous Mexican butterworts, the thick winter leaves are not carnivorous.

Ghid de îngrijire

Cerințe de lumină

Bright light: a sunny window, greenhouse or plant lights. Seasonal light cues, with day length changing slowly through the year, help heterophyllous Mexican butterworts keep their cycle.

Natural or seasonally adjusted day length zilnic

Necesarul de apă

Tip: Low-mineral water; a salt crust on the soil surface is a sign to repot

Metodă: In the wild it grows in seeping water on limestone. In cultivation the ICPS tray method works: stand pots in up to 2 cm of water while the plant has carnivorous leaves, and let the tray dry for about a week between waterings when it forms its succulent winter rosette.

Frecvenţă: Keep moist while in summer leaf; water sparingly in the resting phase

Umiditate: Warm and humid while in active growth

Sol

A mineral-rich, well-drained mix such as equal parts peat, coarse sand and perlite with dolomitic lime, or a pure mineral mix in humid greenhouses. Limestone sand suits a plant that grows on calcium carbonate in the wild.

pH: Alkaline (grows on calcium carbonate in the wild)

Temperatură

Vară: Warm; normal house temperatures

Iarnă: Cooler and drier

Hrănire

Frecvenţă: Usually unnecessary; catches fungus gnats and other small insects

Mexican Pinguicula appreciate light fertilization, such as a dilute orchid fertilizer foliar spray. Avoid acid-based fertilizers and over-fertilizing trays.

Propagare

Metode: Leaf pullings, preferably using the succulent leaves of the winter rosette. Seed after hand pollination, since the flowers cannot pollinate themselves; sow on the surface at 15-25°C (60-80°F), where it germinates in 4-8 weeks.

Dificultate: Easy

Sfaturi pentru începători

Give it bright light, a gritty, lime-rich mix and pure water, and let it dry out more in winter.

Depanare

Plants that never form a resting rosette and decline over time: give seasonal light and water cues. Salt crust or crowded roots: repot. Leaves eaten near the soil: fungus gnat larvae.

Sfaturi de creștere

Let it rest Seasonal

When the long leaves give way to a tight rosette of short, thick leaves, water less until the long carnivorous leaves return.

A limestone plant General

In the wild it grows on wet calcium carbonate. Add dolomitic lime or limestone sand to the mix rather than using acidic bog soil.

Fapte interesante

It was found during environmental surveys for the Zimapán hydroelectric dam.
In the wild it has been seen flowering throughout the year.
It keeps its summer leaves as long as its seep stays wet, and forms a tight resting rosette only when the site dries out.
Its long leaves are passed on to hybrids: the cultivar 'Aphrodite' (P. agnata × P. moctezumae) has arching, elongated leaves.
The name refers to the canyon of the Río Moctezuma where it was discovered.

Istoric

Ricardo Zirahuen Ortega and colleagues discovered the plant in January 1994 while surveying the Río Moctezuma canyon between the dam wall and the powerhouse of the Zimapán hydroelectric project, where it was growing on the bed of a small stream. Sergio Zamudio and Ortega described it as a new species the same year in Acta Botanica Mexicana, from a type specimen collected on 3 March 1994 at 1,050 m in the municipality of Cadereyta, Querétaro, by E. Pérez-Calix. The related P. elisabethiae was found during the same surveys.

The species is now widely available from carnivorous plant nurseries and has been used as a parent of hybrids. 'Aphrodite', P. agnata × P. moctezumae, was raised by J. Flisek and K. Pasek in the Czech Republic in 1998 and registered in 2000.

Surse

Întrebări frecvente

Bright light: a sunny window, greenhouse or plant lights. Seasonal light cues, with day length changing slowly through the year, help heterophyllous Mexican butterworts keep their cycle. Vizează aproximativ Natural or seasonally adjusted day length lumină pe zi.

Low-mineral water; a salt crust on the soil surface is a sign to repot. In the wild it grows in seeping water on limestone. In cultivation the ICPS tray method works: stand pots in up to 2 cm of water while the plant has carnivorous leaves, and let the tray dry for about a week between waterings when it forms its succulent winter rosette.

A mineral-rich, well-drained mix such as equal parts peat, coarse sand and perlite with dolomitic lime, or a pure mineral mix in humid greenhouses. Limestone sand suits a plant that grows on calcium carbonate in the wild. pH-ul solului: Alkaline (grows on calcium carbonate in the wild).

Nu are nevoie de repaus. Temperaturi de iarnă: Cooler and drier.

Mexican Pinguicula appreciate light fertilization, such as a dilute orchid fertilizer foliar spray. Avoid acid-based fertilizers and over-fertilizing trays. Cât de des: Usually unnecessary; catches fungus gnats and other small insects.

Río Moctezuma canyon, Querétaro and Hidalgo, Mexico (endemic). It grows on concretions of calcium carbonate (tufa) in the beds of small streams and on rock walls with seeping water, on limestone slopes at 900-1,100 m (2,950-3,600 ft) in the canyon of the Río Moctezuma, which forms the border between the states of Querétaro and Hidalgo.

Leaf pullings, preferably using the succulent leaves of the winter rosette. Seed after hand pollination, since the flowers cannot pollinate themselves; sow on the surface at 15-25°C (60-80°F), where it germinates in 4-8 weeks.

Plants that never form a resting rosette and decline over time: give seasonal light and water cues. Salt crust or crowded roots: repot. Leaves eaten near the soil: fungus gnat larvae.

Da. Este una dintre cele mai ușor de îngrijit plante carnivore, dacă i se asigură lumina, apa și solul potrivite.

Specii înrudite

Butterwort 'Sethos'

Pinguicula 'Sethos'

Giant Butterwort

Pinguicula gigantea

Mexican Butterwort

Pinguicula moranensis

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