Trip to Rio
Fernando Rivadavia Lopes (ferndriv@usp.br)
Fri, 8 Dec 1995 16:33:30 -0300 (GRNLNDST)
I returned yesterday after spending a few days in Rio de Janeiro,
mostly studying herbarium. I went to the National Museum, the Botanic
Garden, and the Federal University. At the latter, I couldn't find anyone
from the Botany Department both times I went. At the National Museum, the
herbarium was closed off for everyone since they recently had problems
with infiltration from rains and the roof was supposedly about to fall
down at any moment. So I had to insist a lot and was able to examine the
Drosera only.
I saw the (horrible) TYPE of D.pumila, but they weren't able to
tell me if there were any other TYPE specimens of Drosera there. If
there were, they were on loan, but I doubt there were any others. Thus
Jan, we'll have to find out where those TYPES are which on your list read
(R?). Other interesting Drosera I saw were 2 collections od D.roraimae
from the Amazon Basin, and NOT from the tepui-tops. Well, at least I
think they were D.roraimae. At the Bot.Garden I saw a collection of a
small, rosetted Drosera with narrow, tongue-shaped leaves and white
flowers on short scapes only around 1-3 cm high. It was from Venezuela
and I'm almost sure it was the same as that one shown in CPN in 89 or 90
in an article on CPs of the teupis. Does anyone know which one that is?
The TYPE Lentibulariaceae from the Nat.Museum were in the hands of
Elza Fromm-Trinta, the famous Brazilian taxonomists who has worked with
native Genlisea and Utricularia, and has even described a few new
species. I was able to get her phone number and we talked for a long
time, planning to meet up maybe in February or March.
At the Botanic Gardens, I saw 3 collections of Heliamphora. One
was H.nutans, the other H.tatei, and the last H.tatei var.neblinae. There
was also a collection of U.geminiloba from the Itatiaia Range, showing it's
tiny tubers.
I was planning to stop by Teresopolis on my way to Rio, to search
for the elusive U.nelumbifolia, but ended up no going due to lack of time
(I leave for Europe next Wednesday!!). I've been searching for this species
for many years now, without success. It supposedly grows inside bromeliads
like U.humboldtii. I've climbed many mountains and have risked my butt on
many steep, bromeliad-covered cliffs, practically turning broms upsidedown
one by one in search of U.nelumbifolia.
Ironically, and surprisingly, I finally did find this species,
growing inside bromeliads (some really giant, beautiful Vriesia) at the Rio
Bot.Gardens!! There were no flowers, but the round, peltate leaves were
unmistakeable. I was later told those Vriesia had been recently saved
from a fire on mountains not too far from Rio. That may explain what
U.nelumbifolia were doing at sea level.
Anyways, I had always understood that U.nelumbifolia grew as an
aquatic inside the water-filled tanks of the bromeliads, but found out
that it may be a whole different story. The ones I saw were growing only
among the dead leaf bases at the base of the plants. These are tightly
packed, sealing the stolons among each other, and do not hold any water.
It is true that it's humid, but is far from an aquatic environment. In
fact, they were even sustained by a "soil" of sorts, composed of decaying
organic matter, which was accumulated in the early stages of the leaves.
Well, this kind of habitat sure makes much more sense than the
aquatic one suggested in Taylor's book, especially beacuse U.reniformis,
a terrestrial, is also said to be found inside bromeliads, sometimes with
U.nelumbifolia. I now wonder if it isn't the same with U.humboldtii on
the tepuis? Andreas or any of you who have been there, could you answer
this one? Does U.humboldtii really grow in the water-filled leaf axils or
in the dead leaf bases where there is no longer any water?
I'll try keeping a few of the U.nelumbifolia stolons in
bromeliads at home and others in Sphagnum. Hopefully they'll adapt and we
might have plants for trade a year or more from now.
Coming down from the Corcovado (the mountain with the statue of
Christ), from where I had a fantastic view of the city, spread among the
forest-covered mountains, I discovered various roads criscrossing the
Tijuca Forest National Park. I was only able to drive through a few of
these roads, due to lack of time, but recommend it to anyone who comes to
Rio, if you want to see some rainforest. In fact, the Botanic Garden can
also give you a very good taste of tropical plants. It's really very
beautiful and there's even a greenhouse with CPs! It's mostly very common
stuff, though there were lots of U.nephrophylla in flower.
Anyways, along the Redentor Road in the Tijuca Forest, I found
various sites with U.nephrophylla in full bloom (cute white flowers with
2 yeallow ridges) growing on the banks next to the road, mostly next to
small waterfalls. At one spot there were also U.longifolia, though none
were in flower.
After working all those days, closed up in smelly herbaria, I
took the last day off on the Barra da Tijuca Beach, where the water is
cristal clear. I wanted to get a nice suntan to make all you Europeans
jealous when I come to visit in December/January!! 8*)
Right after the beach, I decided to see the rainforest from a new
point of view I'd never experienced before. I carried out an old dream
and tried out hang-gliding!! It was one of those double jumps, with an
instructor, and unfortunately didn't last more than 20 minutes, but it was
sure fantastic to skim over the rainforest, seeing the mosaic composed of a
million shades of green covering the mountain sides! Again, if any of you
ever come down to Rio, I sure recommend this!!
Fernando Rivadavia
Sao Paulo, Brazil