- First described
- 2015
- Type
- population overview multi clone
The parent document for Mike's Bay Co rubricorpora collection — a genetically distinct population from Liberty Co rubricorpora, with unique large-pitcher / small-rhizome character. Foundation source for the famous ERT, SERT, and ERT-Recessive breeding lines.
History
Mike introduced the population in 2015-04-17 (post #1) with his genetics framing: Bay Co plants are isolated, large-pitchered on small rhizomes, with long skinny petioles fattening near the top. Pitchers open greenish-red and color up over weeks, unlike Liberty Co plants that open more colored.
calen's 2015 visit to Mike's collection (post #2) flagged the visual alata-resemblance — the plants look nothing like other flavas, suggesting either alata introgression (calen rejected) or a uniquely isolated population evolution.
The 2015-07-13 update (post #17) is the major individual-clone documentation — Mike walks through ~10 specific selections with distinct phenotypes. The 2022-07 update (post #26) confirms the "tallest of all Mike's flava populations" finding.
By 2021 some ongoing taxonomic debate emerged with DirtyDivisions about whether to call newly-opened traps "ornatas" — Mike (post #25) maintains rubricorpora classification because they color up over time.
Standout traits
- Genetically distinct from Liberty Co
- Tallest of all Mike's flava populations
- Large pitchers on small rhizomes
- Aging-into-color color development
- ERT lineage origin
Cultivation notes
- Outdoor NorCal.
- Trap-aging is critical for color expression.
- Cement-mixing-tub root-space cultivation drives mature performance.
- Polycarbonate or natural overcast may drive deeper color.
- Phyllodia retention recommended.
Standout traits
- **Genetically distinct from Liberty Co rubricorpora** — Mike (post #1, 2015): 'These Bay Co genetics do tend to produce very large pitchers on relatively small rhizomes. They're very isolated from other rubricorpora populations and have unique genetics that don't appear in other counties.'
- **Tallest of all Mike's flava populations** — Mike (post #26, 2022): 'this population is consistently the tallest out of all the flava populations that I grow!'
- **Aging-into-color pattern** — pitchers open greenish-red and color up over weeks (Mike, post #1). Liberty Co plants are typically more colored at opening.
- **Long skinny petioles that fatten near the top** — Mike (post #1, 2015) — distinctive growth habit
- **Some clones can get almost purplish-black** under greenhouse conditions; Mike hasn't achieved this outdoors (post #1, 2015)
- **ERT-style red-throat lineage origin** — Mike (post #4, 2015): 'This particular clone looks like the forefather of extreme red throat'
- **No known hybrids with psittacina at the site** despite co-occurrence (calen, post #11, 2015)
Cultivation
- Outdoor Northern California (Mike) + various other growers (calen, rmeyer, gotsarrs, plantman, others received divisions).
- Trap-aging color development is the central cultivation insight: open-traps look ornata-like, then color up over weeks.
- Polycarbonate effect (calen, post #18, 2015): light-diffusion from polycarbonate or natural overcast may drive deeper color expression, suggesting why wild plants in cloudy FL summers may show deeper color than NorCal cloudless cultivation.
- Cement mixing tub (calen, post #22, 2017): ample root space drives much better mature-trap performance than pot-cramped cultivation. Idea credited to Mike.
- Phyllodia retention (Mike, post #26, 2022): leave previous-year phyllodia attached — same energy-bank principle Mike applies to leuco spring pitchers.
- Bloom-time variability (Mike, post #24, 2020): different clone blooms first each year, indicating environment plays bigger role than genetics in bloom-development speed.
Photos (69)
Naming
Mike's locality designation. Functions as parent document for the ERT, SERT, ERT-Recessive, and other Bay Co rubricorpora children.