Publication: Growing Carnivorous Plants by Barry Rice. Page 80
Registration Date: December 6, 2006
Breeder: Unknown. Not specified in the publication. Barry Rice?
Nominant: Barry Rice
Registrant: Barry Rice
Description:
Quoted from Growing Carnivorous Plants by Barry Rice: "This new cultivar name designates a bright green plant that has been in cultivation for many years. It is characterized by the complete lack of orange or red pigmentation in the leaves, even when the plant is grown in full sun. It is commonly grown with unregistered names such as "all green, "green traps," or "heterodox," but beware, not all clones are truly lacking orange or red pigmentation! The electric green leaves of the true 'Justina Davis' can be mistaken for fresh young traps that have not yet had time to develop mature characteristics. The name 'Justina Davis' commemorates the wife of Arthur Dobbs, who was a mere 15 years old when she married the governor of North Carolina in 1762."
Propagation: Not stated in the publication, but I am guessing through vegetative reproduction.
Etymology: After the wife of the governor of North Carolina. The governor of North Carolina was the first person to write about the Venus flytrap or Dionaea muscipula
Background: Is Dionaea muscipula 'Justina Davis' truly worth of cultivar status? I'm not so sure. It seems to me that 'Justina Davis' does in fact have some red or orange pigment inside the traps. I received a specimen from Robert Ziemer. It was a division from his adult plant that he got from David Conner. David Conner writes on his store page that he obtained a clone directly from Barry Rice, the registrant of the plant, so I am fairly certain that my 'Justina Davis' plant is of pure pedigree. However, if you notice in the photo to the right, there is definitely some red or orange pigmentation on the inside of the trap. I am growing my plant outside in Boulder, Colorado in full sun. Perhaps I am misunderstanding the description and standard of the 'Justina Davis' venus fly trap, but I thought that it would have absolutely no red or orange pigmentation, even on the inside of the traps. I have also read some discussions on forum boards debating the same question about coloration. Please comment below if you have something you would like to add.
Update on May 16, 2008: I was emailed by David Conner with regards to the pinkish inside of some of the traps of 'Justina Davis'. He acknowledged that the plant does have a slight pink blush in the interior traps and went on to say that "a large number of the small/medium sized specimens cloned from tissue supplied by Barry Rice also exhibit this characteristic, however, a number of larger mature flowering sized specimens appear to be holding their all-green color."..."Barry (Barry Rice) and Bob (Robert Ziemer) have postulated that the pink blush is an anomaly of slight genetic variance picked up during tissue culture. I'm not so sure, because of the preceding observations, and the fact that all the other VFT cultivars I've cloned in the same manner using tissue culture, appear "true-to-Type". Also, as noted in Siggy's video "Snap Tentacles and Runway Lights" he's discovered that young Drosera binata seedlings have the "Snap Tentacles" which disappear as the plant grows larger. Perhaps a similar thing is happening with the pink/red coloration present in young JDs and HCWs? I'll be watching the JD clones to see if the reversion from pink to all-green is prevalent...
So perhaps the pinkish interior is only present in adolescent plants? I guess time will tell with my clone. If any other growers out there have thoughts about this topic, please post a comment below.
Photo Gallery: Dionaea 'Justina Davis' Photo Gallery
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Marvelous web site.
As I have noted elsewhere, the 'Justina Davis' plants in my collection are all-green, and do not show the quite obvious pink blush that your plants have. I grow my plants in intense light, and all my other Dionaea clones have great color. A number of people are studying this and looking into possible explanations. All quite interesting.
The theory about changes in TC plant is interesting, and relatively new to me, as well. But apparently this sort of phenomenon is more commonly encountered in the orchid trade, where mericlone sports are more well known.
Cheers
Barry