SUCCULENT SUNDAY: Dorstenia lavrani, one sex at a time

Also posted at SentientMeat.net

Dorstenia lavrani, too young to be sexually active
(no hypanthodia),  photo by Sentient Meat

After you read about the bizarre sex life of figs and fig wasps, you can't really say that the genus Dorstenia is much stranger than other members of the fig family, Moraceae. Still, you can't help but notice the bizarre blooms of Dorstenia called hypanthodia. They look like psychedelic set decorations from the original Star Trek.

Photo of Dorstenia hybrid hypanthodium by Josiah Hartzell
Ripe seeds are ejected and may land far from the mother plant

Dorstenia has about 100 species. Most are monoecious with bisexual hypanthodia, but today's focus, Dorstenia lavrani, is dioecious, meaning some plants are male and bear pollen, while others are female and bear ovaries and later, seeds. My young plant has not borne any hypanthodia yet, so I don't know its sex. I hope it's female.

Same Dorstenia lavrani pictured above

Legendary plant explorer John Lavranos discovered this plant variety in 1973, but it was circulated among collectors as a form of Dorstenia foetida -- a fascinating but much more common plant -- identified only by its locality, Taba'a Gap or Taba'a Gorge. It was finally described as a distinct species and named Dorstenia lavrani only in 2008.

Beautiful, prizewinning plant about 14 inches high
(not counting the Sideshow Bob topknot)
grown by Yvonne Hemenway, iPhone snapshot by Sentient Meat

Dorstenia lavrani mesmerizes me with its pale, wax-like skin and its helix of leaf scars running up and down each stem. Well grown plants are visually striking, magnetic to growers and plant show judges alike. Apparently animals also find it irresistible -- it was the first plant to be devoured off my deck. (The small plant pictured here is its replacement.) The first day I noticed a problem, only a nibble was missing. The next day all that remained of that plant was a crater in the soil.

Breeding female Dorstenia lavrani at Mike and Maureen Massara's growing grounds
photo by Bruce Brethauer, Columbus Cactus Club