The Maw

Day 347: Without having seen "Little Shop of Horrors," it took me a while to find out what my friends meant when they'd say, "Feed me, Seymour!" in response to my posts about the collection of carnivores living on my back porch. I finally watched the original movie a few months ago, and although I now understand the reference, I can't for the life of me figure out how such an obvious plot twist and cliché filmography earned the film cult status. At some point, I will watch the modern version, although I suspect that it will offer more gore (something I can do without), but nothing to improve the premise. Let's see...the original Rod Serling "Twilight Zone" must have had a version, and its precursor "Tales of Tomorrow" certainly did. Both pre-dated "Little Shop" by a decade or more. Fun if you're 11 or 12, not so attention-grabbing once you've passed through adolescence.

So...movie critiques aside, this is Sarracenia x Carolina Yellowjacket, my "other" Sarracenia. It has wider but shorter pitchers than Sarracenia rubra (background), but their unique, somewhat portly shape suggests that this plant can consume a lot more bugs. Like rubra, its pitchers are lined with downward-pointing hairs which guide insects first into the throat and then into a pool of digestive enzymes at the bottom. There's no escape for the hapless fly who lands here! To date, Yellowjacket has not bloomed for me, but it has filled its pot to the point that I'll have to divide it next spring. Say bye-bye, bugs! You're doomed!