This plant is a volunteer that grew from an old bag of potting soil. Flowers said to be sticky to the touch.
Ew. Creepy plant, though pretty enough. Thanks for posting it! I see some sites say it's carnivorous, but Wikipedia says it kills bugs for no apparent reason (well, that was my take) - insects become stuck on it and die, but it doesn't have enzymes to process nutrients from them, so it calls it protocarnivorous, like a carnivorous-wannabe. Some synonyms: Martynia lutea, Proboscidea lutea. Common name yellow unicorn-plant, though another page indicates that that name goes with Proboscidea, which used to be in the same family, but Ibicella were moved to a different family. It's curious that you found it in your potting soil, since Wikipedia shows it established as a non-native species in the US only in California and Florida. Was your potting soil from one of those states? It would be interesting to know if it would survive your winters, though presumably the seeds could survive. I wonder if it could become a problem in your area, like get out of control, and then if it would kill insects that you'd want to be keeping alive.
This plant ID question came from a third party so I don't have any information about the source of the potting soil. Some of your other observations/questions occurred to me too. Thanks.
