- Breeder
- Mike Wang
- First described
- 2015
- Type
- single clone named from mike breeding line
- Cultivar
- 'Golden Leuk'
Mike-bred leuco × wherryi F1 with rare yellow-golden body + red veins + exact leuco trap shape. Phonetic-spelling cultivar name (golden + 'leuk' phonetic for leucophylla). Mike later relabeled as S. areolata Golden Leuk (2022) reflecting taxonomic shift.
Standout traits
- **Yellow-golden body color with red veins** + same exact shape as S. leucophylla — extremely rare phenotype combination from leuco × wherryi crosses (Mike, post #1, 2015)
- Spring traps are nice; fall season produces best show
- Long-lasting fall traps — Mike (post #21, 2019-11-26): traps still showing at end of November
- **Reciprocal cross outcomes** (Mike, post #1, 2015): leuco × wherryi seed batches produce: lots of muts, a few reddish leuco-dominant clones, a few wherryi-shaped traps with white tops, and rarely golden plants like this
- Same trap shape as leuco — phenotypic resemblance to pure leucophylla makes the gold-vein expression more striking
Cultivation
- Outdoor Northern California.
- Slow to establish — Mike's plant was small in 2015; significant growth by 2016+.
- Mike's broader fertilization comment (post #13, 2015): MaxSea fert can boost vigor but increase rot risk; bill (post #14) confirmed botrytis from MaxSea overuse on VFTs.
- Sibling 'leuco-dominant' wherryi cross (Mike, post #16, 2015): a sibling from the same batch shows green coloration with subtle yellow lid — different from Golden Leuk; not yet promoted.
Photos (26)
Naming
Mike's working name 'Golden Leuk' = phonetic short for 'golden leucophylla' (post #1, 2015). Cultivar names can't be Latin per ICPS rules, hence the obscure phonetic spelling. bill (post #5) suggested 'Starburst' as an alternative; not adopted.