This past summer, when Doug Atlas gave me a large portion
of his CP collection to distribute, I kept a few plants. Among them
were two nice-sized D. adelae specimens. I had never seen this
Drosera before, and I found it to be quite beautiful. Both were
transplanted side by side in one of my large plastic trays, which
already contained three large D. capensis, a few D. spathulata, a
young Cephalotus, and various Utriculariae growing as weeds on
the surface of the growing medium. The growing medium is a
peat-sand mixture, and this whole arrangement sits under
fluorescent lights inside a clear plastic tent.
Both D. adelae plants began to show signs of inadequate
humidity and perhaps higher temperatures than they normally
like. The older leaves gradually dried up, and the newer growth
was small. Not being one who submits himself to the wills of his
plants, I just let things sit and figured that the plants would kick
the bucket eventually. By the way, the other plants in the tray
were doing fine, and the D. capensis plants flowered.
One week ago I spotted several unidentifiable Droserae
sprouting up, and I thought this might be D. capensis plantlets that
started from the seeds which resulted from the recent flowers.
Now the plants are large enough to identify, and they're D. adelae!
It's incredible. There are miniature D. adelae coming up all over
the tray--one in the midst of the three D. capensis, one on the other
side of the Cephalotus from where the adult D. adelae are, and a
few more in various locations in the tray. Apparently the adult D.
adelae grew roots throughout the tray, and these are sprouting
new plants in random locations. The two adult plants still don't
look as nice as they did when I first received them, but they must
be happy if they're making babies. Meanwhile, I haven't seen one
D. capensis plantlet yet, and this is the Drosera that's supposed to
spread like a weed once it blooms.
Ah yes, these surprises are best when they occur in the
middle of Winter. I just hope that the plants are not so aggressive
that they will kill my Cephalotus.
Perry Malouf