- Breeder
- Mike Wang (selection from Lois × best clone seed batch)
- First described
- 2015
- Type
- single clone rare segregant from cuprea cross
A 1-in-many segregant from Mike's Lois clone × best clone cuprea × cuprea cross. Solid red expression — neither parent shows this in cultivation — supporting Mike's hypothesis that wild Carolina atropurpureas and cupreas share genetic ancestry.
History
Mike (post #1, 2015) introduced the clone with the genetics framing: two cuprea parents producing 96% cupreas, 2-3 flava-flavas, and exactly 1 well-defined atropurpurea — this clone. Both parents are suspected Carolinas-origin cuprea selections.
Mike's framing of the parent 'best clone': originally acquired from California Carnivores in the late 1990s as 'flava red form' (later relabeled cuprea); Peter D'Amato had told Mike the plant was solid red when seen 'in the field,' possibly at the late Bob Hanrahan's place. Cultivation never reproduced the solid red on best clone itself, but this offspring did — vindicating Peter's recollection.
By 2018 calen + almightydolla coined 'atrocuprea' for this phenotypically-ambiguous clone — under different conditions it leans either way.
By 2021 (post #26) Mike committed to atropurpurea classification based on the greenish lip on a mature trap.
By 2024 (post #28) Mike noted Lois clone (the mother) is also "atropurpurea'ing pretty hard this spring" — confirming the atropurpurea-tendency gene was in the parent line.
Standout traits
- 1-in-many segregant rarity from a same-variety cross
- Solid red expression neither parent shows in cultivation
- Color intensifies dramatically with trap age
- Greenish lip (atropurpurea marker)
- Vigorous
Cultivation notes
- Outdoor NorCal full sun + greenhouse polycarbonate both drive maximum color.
- Trap-aging is critical for full red expression.
- Distribution well-established (Mike, almightydolla, calen, gotsarrs, Steve, others).
Standout traits
- 1-in-batch rarity — Mike (post #6, 2015): 96% cupreas, 1 atropurpurea, 2-3 flava var. flavas in the entire seed batch. Only one 'well-defined' atropurpurea segregant
- Hybrid vigor — Mike (post #4, 2015): 'quite vigorous, probably because it's of hybrid origin' (despite both parents being same variety)
- Solid red coloration in cultivation, NEVER seen in the parent 'best clone' under cultivation (Mike, post #1, 2015) — although Peter D'Amato reported seeing best clone go solid red 'in the field' decades ago, possibly at the late Bob Hanrahan's place
- **Cuprea-vs-atropurpurea ambiguity** — calen (post #21, 2018): under his conditions the clone leans more toward 'caramel brown of cuprea than the blood red of atropurpurea'; under Mike's NorCal yard or Steve's greenhouse it gets a more red cast. Greenish lip in mature trap (Mike, post #26, 2021) eventually pushed Mike to call it 'unquestionably an atropurpurea'
- Color intensifies as trap ages — Mike (post #1, 2015) early-vs-late comparison shows the dramatic intensification
Cultivation
- Outdoor Northern California / greenhouse comparison: Mike's NorCal outdoor + Steve's greenhouse give the most red expression; calen's NorCal conditions give more cuprea-spectrum color.
- Trap-aging color intensification is dramatic — early traps look light red, mature traps go deep.
- Polycarbonate sun exposure (almightydolla, 2017-05-30 + 2018): polycarbonate cover gives the plant a 'suntan' — drives even more saturation. 2018 photos show this at maximum.
- Distribution: Mike, almightydolla, calen, gotsarrs, others received divisions. Multiple grower confirmations of vigor and color development.
Photos (14)
Naming
Mike's working label keeps "atropurpurea" in quotes (post #1, 2015) — parents were both var. cuprea, but this offspring expresses fully solid red. Mike's resulting hypothesis: 'I'm beginning to believe that some of the Carolina atropurpureas you find in the wild came from cupreas and vice versa.' calen (post #21, 2018) and almightydolla call it the 'atrocuprea' informally.