August 14, 2020

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New England Carnivorous Plant Society

"The mission of the New England Carnivorous Plant Society shall be to share, to gain knowledge of, and to achieve expertise in all phases of growing, education, appreciation, and conservation of carnivorous plants in both culture and in native habitats."

- The NECPS 17th Annual Fall Carnivorous Plant Show -

Announcements

What's New

NECPS August Meeting CANCELED

We are sorry to announce that the August meeting of the NECPS which was scheduled to take place at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center on August 15th has been CANCELED due to concerns relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Our Annual Carnivorous Plant Show has also been CANCELED by the Tower Hill Botanic Garden. Our alternate plan is to have our show at Lake Street Garden Center.

Download and view the press releases for this year's show.
NECPS show 2020 press release_080117.docx
NECPS show 2020 press release_080117.pdf

NECPS Plant Preregistration Form

If you plan on bringing plants to this year's show you will need to first download and fill out the plant preregistration form and return it to Shaun Montminy no later then October 1st, with a special gift for those first 5 people that pre-register!

Without the preregistration forms your plants will not have the custom printed plant tags which we require for voting.

NECPS_show_preregistration_form_2020_blank.xlsx

All Dues Renewals Postponed to January 2021

Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic it has been one crazy year! We have only been able to hold just 2 meetings so far this year! And we may not be able to hold our popular Annual Fall Show this year and may have to come up with some kind of "Virtual Show".

It is because of this that NECPS President Dave Sackett has announced that there will be No Membership Dues required for 2020. All currently active NECPS Members will have their memberships extended into 2021.

Thanks Dave for making this important decision and for keeping the NECPS strong throughout these difficult times!

How Venus flytraps snap

Venus flytraps catch spiders and insects by snapping their trap leaves. This mechanism is activated when unsuspecting prey touch highly sensitive trigger hairs twice within 30 seconds. A study led by researchers at the University of Zurich has now shown that a single slow touch also triggers trap closure-probably to catch slow-moving larvae and snails.

The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is perhaps the most well-known carnivorous plant. It catches its prey, mostly spiders and insects, using a sophisticated trapping mechanism. Its distinct leaves have three highly sensitive trigger hairs on each lobe. These hairs react to even the slightest touches-e.g. when a fly crawls along the leaf-by sending out an electrical signal, which quickly spreads across the entire leaf. If two signals are triggered in a short time, the trap snaps within milliseconds.

The physiological reactions on which this trapping mechanism is based have been studied for over 200 years. The consensus has been that every sufficiently strong touch of a trigger hair causes an electrical signal, and that two signals within 30 seconds result in the closing of the trap. A new study from the University of Zurich (UZH) and ETH Zurich has now found another triggering mechanism. "Contrary to popular belief, slowly touching a trigger hair only once can also cause two signals and thus lead to the snapping of the trap," says co-last author Ueli Grossniklaus, director of the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at UZH.

Read the Full Article Here

Biomechanical analyses and computer simulations reveal the Venus flytrap snapping mechanisms

The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) takes only 100 milliseconds to trap its prey. Once their leaves, which have been transformed into snap traps, have closed, insects can no longer escape. Using biomechanical experiments and virtual Venus flytraps a team from Freiburg Botanical Garden and the University of Stuttgart has analyzed in detail how the lobes of the trap move. Freiburg biologists Dr. Anna Westermeier, Max Mylo, Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck and Dr. Simon Poppinga and Stuttgart structural engineer Renate Sachse and Prof. Dr. Manfred Bischoff show that the trap of the carnivorous plant is under mechanical prestress. In addition, its three tissue layers of each lobe have to deform according to a special pattern. The team has published its results in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The diet of the Venus flytrap consists mainly of crawling insects. When the animals touch the sensory hairs inside the trap twice within about 20 seconds it snaps shut. Aspects such as how the trap perceives its prey and how it differentiates potential prey from a raindrop falling into the trap were already well known to scientists. However the precise morphing process of the halves of the trap remained largely unknown.

In order to gain a better understanding of these processes, the researchers have analyzed the interior and exterior surfaces of the trap using digital 3-D image correlation methods. Scientists typically use these methods for the examination of technical materials. Using the results the team then constructed several virtual traps in a finite element simulation that differ in their tissue layer setups and in the mechanical behavior of the layers.

Read the Full Article Here

Got News?

Have an idea for a presentation or demonstration? If there is a meeting or other event that the NECPS will be participating in, or some other carnivorous plant related news item that you would like to share? Please forward the information to the Webmaster so that it can be included here.

Missing our newsletter? Has your email address changed? You can update your email address or other contact information by visiting the Contact page.

Membership Dues are payable at or before the January meeting.

New Species of Pitcher Plant Discovered in Philippines

The newly-discovered species belongs to Nepenthes, a genus of tropical pitcher plants in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae.

The genus comprises over 170 species, mostly native to Madagascar, Southeast Asia, and Australia. The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines, with many endemic species.

Also known as monkey cups (because monkeys have been observed drinking rainwater from these plants), all Nepenthes species are carnivorous plants that capture their prey by means of modified pitcher-shaped leaves that function as passive pitfall traps.

Attracted by nectar secreted from the underside of the trap's lid, insects and other prey slip from the mouth of the pitcher into a pool of liquid and are unable to escape, because of the pitcher's downward-pointing hairs and slick sides. The animals drown and are eventually digested by enzymes.

Named Nepenthes cabanae, the newfound species occurs only in Mt. Malimumu, Pantaron range, Bukidnon Province of Mindanao Island, Philippines.

"This discovery brings the number of Nepenthes species in this mountain range to eight," said Central Mindanao University researchers Noel Lagunday and Victor Amoroso.

"Mt. Pantaron is currently not a protected area, but the diversity of Nepenthes suggests concerted efforts should be made to develop a conservation strategy to preserve and protect the area."

Read the Full Article Here

13th ICPS Conference Postponed Until 2021

Currently infection to the new coronavirus is spreading on a global scale. WHO assessed this situation as a pandemic. The US declared a state of emergency yesterday. Japan is now ready to declare the same, as the pertinent law was approved by the Diet.

We cannot expect change for the better. Therefore, the organizer team would like to postpone 13th ICPS Conference - Japan by 1 year. We will aim at holding the conference in May 2021. However, we may reconsider it depending on the situation. As for refund of the paid registration fees, please refer to the conference home page.

-- Koji Kondo for the organizer team.

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