U.pubescens
Fernando Rivadavia Lopes (ferndriv@cat.cce.usp.br)
Fri, 2 Jun 1995 15:41:29 -0300 (EST)
> I have two clones of _U.pubescens_. The clone I've grown for years and years
> flowers only rarely, producing scapes 20--30 cm tall with dorsally flattened,
> pale blue flowers. Gordon Snelling describes them as dull and ugly, although
> I am too biased with love of the genus to describe them so! As I have perhaps
> mentioned before, for some reason this plant does best when grown with my
> _D.adelae_, and I suspect the reason is they like a bit more shade or
> humidity than I normally provide.
>
> My newer Auyan Tepui clone from Christoph flowers regularly and profusely,
> even shaming _U.sandersonii_. The scapes on this specimen are only 3--8 cm
> tall, and the flowers are cream--pale blue with an interesting dark
> spot on the proximal palate region. Both clones have 1--several flowers per
> scape. The affinity of the Auyan Tepui clone of _U.pubescens_ to _U.livida_
> is striking.
I've seen U.pubescens in the wild here in Brazil in various
locations. It almost always grows on shady streamsides at or below water
level. Most of the ones I've seen have large, violet or pinkish flowers
with one or two yellow marks on the lower lip (when 2, one is above the
other). In one place, I found plants with tiny blue-white flowers
which were almost identical to those of U.arenaria, a weedy species I
received a few years ago from a S.African CP'er (and now wish I hadn't!).
U.arenaria's flowers are shaped similarly to U.livida's, but the colors
are very different. Taylor mentions in his monograph that this species is
extremely variable and closest to U.arenaria.
FERNANDO RIVADAVIA
Sao Paulo, Brazil
P.S. Sorry, guys, I've been trying to continue that discussion on
Drosera evolution, but the computer my E-mail is tied to is having
problems and twice it has erased my (very long) answer just when I
was putting the finishing touches! I'll try o continue next week.