Dionaea muscipula (Soland. ex Ellis)
'Jaws' x 'Petite Dragon'

In 2002, I crossed a 'Jaws' (L.Song) with pollen from a 'Petite Dragon'. The seedling offspring are quite variable. A many of the several hundred offspring have the 'Jaws' appearance. These dentate-type plants have a more red coloration than the 'Jaws' parent and is beginning to resemble a "Sharks Teeth". The photos below of the dentate-type were taken on 8 July 04, the bottom two on 27 August 04.

As mentioned above, the seedlings were variable. Among the dentate-type plants, the trap coloration ranged from intense red (first three photos) to a mottled pink (last two photos). These five photos were taken on 25 September 06.


Of the remaining offspring, they generally have nice red coloration, but all appear to be within the normal range of a "typical" VFT, not at all like the 'Petite Dragon' pollen or 'Jaws' seed parent. This typical-looking plant is shown below. The plant photo was taken on 2 June 05; the flower photos on 30 May 05 and 2 June 05.

Now, it is always possible that the there was some selfing when I pollinated the plants (ie. 'Jaws' x 'Jaws'). I simply rub the ripe anther of the 'Petite Dragon' plant against the receptive stigma of the 'Jaws' plant. It appears that nearly all of the transferred pollen is from the ripe anther, but it is certainly possible that some pollen from the 'Jaws' (selfing) does occur using this technique.

My growing situation is not ideal for VFT coloration. I receive only a few hours of direct afternoon sun after my wife decided to extend our deck over my greenhouse two years ago.