Carnivorous Plant Clone Wiki
Awaiting Mike's review. This entry was AI-extracted from forum posts. Treat specifics as a working draft until reviewed.

sarracenia leucophylla

Sarracenia leucophylla RED (Wilkerson's Red Rocket × Franklin Co, FL clone B) — breeding line

Breeder
Mike Wang
First described
2014
Type
breeding line multi clone named selections

A multi-clone Mike-bred seedling batch from his selection of the two parent clones (Wilkerson's Red Rocket from Walton Co FL × Franklin Co clone B). Documented across nearly a decade (2014-2023). Multiple named selections promoted from this single seed batch (Select clone, Winner, Darkest); siblings distributed to several growers.

History

Mike posted the first seedling photos in 2014-09 (post #1) — newly- opened pitchers, with Mike framing the entry as a real-time teaching moment about how seedling color at one year doesn't predict mature expression. By 2014-09-30 (post #4) Mike confirmed both parents: "S. leucophylla RED (Wilkerson's Red Rocket × Franklin Co, FL clone B)."

The 2015-04-15 update (post #7) showed Mike's keeper from the batch at maturity — "amazing." Multiple sibling clones had already been distributed by this point.

The 2016-03-29 update (post #9) introduced "Select clone" — explicitly the FCB × WRR direction (B as mother). Same post sets up Mike's later "BADDEST, REDDEST leucophylla EVER" claim (post #9, 2016).

In post #12 (2016) Mike confirmed he had also done the reciprocal cross (WRR × FCB direction), yielding "almost identical" results. He cautioned this was specific to this parent pair, not a generalization.

By 2023-05-25 (post #25), Mike was naming additional siblings — "Winner" already established, "Darkest" tentatively named for an unusually dark-spring-trap clone.

basedrifter (posts #22-23, 2019) and almightydolla (post #24, 2020) posted their own established results from divisions received from Mike.

Standout traits

  • High yield of dark-red selections from this specific parent pair
  • Reciprocal cross produces near-identical phenotype (parent-pair-specific finding, not general)
  • Multi-clone breeding line with distinct named selections
  • 'Darkest' clone capable of dark spring traps — unusual for the cultivar group

Cultivation notes

  • Standard outdoor leucophylla; full sun.
  • Don't cull seedlings by year-1 or year-2 trap color — dark-red expression often emerges at maturity.
  • Mature selection process took ~9 years from 2014 seed batch to 'Winner' / 'Darkest' naming (2023).

Standout traits

  • Mike's primary documented case for **don't judge leuco seedlings by juvenile trap color** — even the best dark-red parent can produce 'regular' colored juvenile traps, and the eventual best may not be the seedling that looks darkest at 1 year (Mike, post #1, 2014; recap post #6, 2014-09-30)
  • Mike (post #4, 2014-09-30): 'I think there's only 2 that I'll cull because they didn't produce dark red pigments. The rest are very promising' — high yield of dark-red selections from this specific parent pair
  • Mike (post #12, 2016): reciprocal cross (mom-dad swap) yielded 'almost identical' results — a non-obvious genetics finding for this parent pair (NOT general — Mike specifically notes 'the same can't be said for all crosses')
  • Multi-year selection process — best clones identified by 2015 (post #7), 'Select clone' named by 2016 (post #9), 'Winner' + 'Darkest' clones identified by 2023 (post #25)

Cultivation

  • Seedling-judging cautionary tale. Mike's central message in this thread: "you won't know which one is the best until you grow it out to maturity" (post #1, 2014). One season's "best" seedling may be eclipsed by a sibling in year 2 or 3.
  • Mike (post #6, 2014-09-30): vigor judgment is also unreliable — a 2-year-old seedling that's twice the size of siblings often equalizes by year 4.
  • Reciprocal-cross note (post #12, 2016): for this specific parent pair (WRR × FCB), the swap produced almost identical results, suggesting neither parent's genome dominantly drives color. Mike (post #16, 2016) cautious about generalizing — 'the genetics of both parents rather than gender determines the frequency of what genes are dominant in the offspring.'
  • Distribution. Mike (post #7, 2015-04-15): 'I might have distributed the best one' — multiple clones from this seed batch went to growers. davidgreen (post #8, 2015), basedrifter (posts #22-23, 2019, division received January 2018), and almightydolla (post #24, 2020) all received plants and posted established results.
  • Spring-pitcher dark expression (post #25, 2023-05-25): 'Darkest' clone notable for producing unusually dark spring traps. Most dark leucos color up only in fall.

Photos (17)

seedling batch — 'can you guess which one I have my eye on?', 2014-09-12— Mike Wang
Mike's initial pick, 2014-09-12— Mike Wang
Mike's initial pick, 2014-09-12— Mike Wang
more seedlings — 'how do you choose when the vast majority look promising?', 2014-09-30— Mike Wang
seedling batch, 2014-09-30— Mike Wang
seedling batch — only 2 culls planned, 2014-09-30— Mike Wang
Mike's keeper at maturity, 2015-04-15— Mike Wang
Mike's keeper, 2015-04-15— Mike Wang
defined white spots on Mike's keeper, 2015-04-15— Mike Wang
Mike's keeper, 2015-04-15— Mike Wang
'Select clone' (FCB × WRR direction), 2016-03-29— Mike Wang
'Select clone' — 'look at how red that thing is!', 2016-03-29— Mike Wang
'Darkest' (sibling of 'Winner') — unusually dark spring traps, 2023-05-25— Mike Wang
'Darkest' clone, 2023-05-25— Mike Wang
'Darkest' clone, 2023-05-25— Mike Wang
'Darkest' clone, 2023-05-25— Mike Wang
'Darkest' clone, 2023-05-25— Mike Wang

Naming

Mike's working label is "S. leucophylla RED (WRR × Franklin Co clone B)" or the reverse with the same parents. Individual selections from the seed batch get their own names ("Select clone", "Winner", "Darkest", etc.) as they prove out at maturity.