Sarracenia alabamensis ICPS AL0003 'SUPER YELLOW'

Origin

An S. alabamensis clone preserved through the ICPS / Barry Rice UC Davis grow-out program of the late-1990s/early-2000s. Site locality intentionally hidden under the accession code "AL0003" to protect the wild population.

History — Mike's framing

Mike walks through the conservation provenance:

1. Early growers (including a young Mike) lacked clean S. alabamensis material — only a notoriously ugly tissue-culture clone was available, fueling Jeremiah Harris's "ugliest of all Sarracenia" designation.
2. Barry Rice, via the ICPS, lawfully obtained seeds from sites whose stewards he persuaded to participate, grew them out at UC Davis, and distributed plants for sale to ICPS members.
3. Distribution was intentionally limited per member to keep it fair, so few private collectors got more than one or two clones from any site.
4. >99% of the originally distributed AL0003 plants no longer exist — most went to growers who lacked the experience or commitment to preserve them long-term.
5. Mike notes (with regret) that there was no parallel back-up scheme under proven stewardship before public release. He was a kid at the time and didn't push to advocate for one.

Standout traits

• Striking, intense yellow color.
• Mike: growers chasing yellow flavas should be looking at S. alabamensis like AL0003 instead.
• Conservation-significant: one of few surviving lineages.

Cultivation notes

Performs reliably in Mike's NorCal collection. Fall traps strongest; summer traps less spectacular but still photogenic.