> Somewhere next year I hope to go to Venezuela.
> Besides the area around Merida I am planning to look around Auyan Tepui.
I read with interest that you will also be visiting Merida. We
often talk so much about the tepuis that we forget that there are any
other places in Venezuela where there are CPs. For those of you who don't
know, Merida is in western Venezuela and is the beginning if the Andes
Range. In Merida you'll find the highest peaks in venezuela, surpassing
5000m. This also the area from which D.cendeensis was described. This
is supposedly a very large, stemmed Drosera which I would love to see in
the wild and I believe no one has ever attempted to cultivate it yet. If
you do find it, I would really like to get my hands on live specimens,
seeds, or just herbarium and photos.
Well anyways, I imagine there are other very interesting CPs in
that region, including Drosera, Utrics and maybe even Genlisea. In fact,
I believe there are also Pinguicula in Merida. I'm not sure if I read
this somewhere or if I'm just assuming that one of the species found in
the Colombian Andes also extends into Venezuela. Well, it's sure a place
worth exploring in more detail. I lived in Venezuela between '81 and '83
and even visited Merida. I was too young back then and had not adquired
"the fever" yet. I'm always thinking back, trying to remember the places I
walked through and what CPs were probably present. I can't help crucifying
myself, wondering how many D.cendeensis I yanked out of the ground and
fed to the llamas which were penned up at the Hotel los Frailes (a small
hotel isolated in the middle of nowhere above 3000m)!!
Fernando Rivadavia
Sao Paulo, Brazil