_Drosera_
Jan Schlauer (zxmsl01@studserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de)
Sat, 6 Feb 93 17:18:50 +0100
Robert, Barry,
Maybe you two have already noticed the difference between some sundews
to be quite elusive for verbal description. But this is exactly where
we stand at the moment. Especeially _D.aliciae_ and _D.natalensis_ are
almost identical (the difference beinge the "somewhat" lighter corolla
colour of _D.natalensis_ and the "somewhat" thinner leaves of this
species). They both have the styles pluri- (several times) to multi-
(many times) -partite (This character however tends to vary in
_D.natalensis_ to that degree that it is sometimes difficult to
distinguish individuals of this species and _D.dielsiana_.
_D.dielsiana_ with quite similar leaves can be distinguished by its
styles which are only basally bifurcate and its ovoid rather than
fusiform seeds. I have seen specimens of all three species, and some of
them are so in-between that it is difficult to assign them to one of the
taxa. But if you stick to the very core of the distinguishing taxonomic
features (and this is what you are forced to do if you don't unite them
under a single taxon) it is possible to ID each. In this situation, I
see no possibility to establish even more species in this complex of
ill-described taxa. But some authors (Debbert, Lowrie...) keep on
splitting.
Kind regards
Jan