=09I'm finally back in Brazil. After 5 weeks of winter in Europe it's=20
good to be back at 30C with the usual summer tropical thundertorms at the=
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end of the afternoon, which almost got me stranded on the way home from=20
university today, where I was cleaning up the greenhouse. I had a=20
fantastic time and would like to thank everybody who made it possible,=20
especially those who helped me out along the way, housing and feeding me. =
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=09I first spent 3 weeks in Italy. That was the touristy part of the
trip. At the end of these 3 weeks I met Alessandro Delfrate (ciao Alex!)
in Milano and we went to Udine for the 1st meeting of the Italian CPers.=20
They all knew a guy called Furio Ersetti who sells CPs in Udine, but they
didn't know each other. So I finally gave them a reason to get together
and meet each other.=20
=09I spent the night in Udine at the house of Fiorello Verona, a CPer
and oldtime correspondant of mine. Most of the 30 (more or less) CPers=20
arrived next morning at Furio's. We woke up late and by the time we=20
arrived at Furio's, everybody was already there. I'll never forget this=20
scene. When I entered the CP greenhouse, Furio's wife, Lili, drowned the=20
general murmur with her high scream "E arrivato Fernando Rivadavia!!"=20
("Fernando Rivadavia is here!!"). Italians are hilarious people!=20
=09We had a fantastic lunch, which I'll also never forget, at a=20
local restaurant. Not only was the food magnificent, but the story-telling=
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had me rolling on the floor! Stories like only Italians know how to tell=20
them! After lunch I presented my slide show in our private room at the=20
restaurant and then Fabio D'=C1lessi (ciao Fabio!) showed the slides of his=
=20
trip to the USA.=20
=09After a short stop in Milano, I was off to Bern, Switzerland, to
meet the famous temperate-Pinguicula specialist Juerg Steiger (hi Juerg!).
I spent almost 2 days with him and had a fantastic intensive course on the
northern temperate Pings. I had a ball hearing his stories on his
expedition to Russia to search for Pings. Hey juerg, you should really
write an article about that!
=09One of the things that most impressed me at Juerg's was his=20
cultivation method for Pings. They're all on the side of his house=20
growing in tiny terraces, I guess you could call it. Hopefully this will=20
be portrayed in one of his 210 fantastic photos which will soon be=20
available on the 'net. This system of his would also probably work very=20
well for other small CPs like Drosera, Utrics, and Genlisea. Before=20
leaving, Juerg took me to see a natural site of P.alpina right close to=20
Bern, which was very interesting, though the plants were obviously=20
dormant. =20
=09My next stop was Rouen, just north of Paris, where I'd be meeting=20
another CPer and long time correspondant of mine, Pierre Sibille, who was=
=20
very active with the French CPS until recently. I stayed 2 days with=20
Pierre and we even had a small meeting with a few local CPers. Pierre had=
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taped 2 wonderful TV programs on the tepuis which I had a great time=20
watching (a few times each!). One I especially liked, since it showed=20
Mt.Duida. Most tepui programs only show Mt.Roraima and Cuquenam. On=20
Mt.Duida, huge populations of H.tatei were shown. Huge in all senses!=20
There were also some interesting unidentified Drosera.=20
=09I then stayed 2 days in Paris, tucked away inside the Natural
History Museum and the city's fantastic subway system (I hardly saw the=20
town!). It was a quick stop for work to study herbarium material of my=20
native CPs, though I was fascinated with herbarium material of S.American=
=20
and S.African Drosera which I'd only read about but had never seen. The=20
one that most caught my attention was D.meristocaulis from the Neblina=20
Peak, on the border betwen Venezuela and Brazil. Someone just HAS to get=20
this primitive species into cultivation!!
=09As to Brazilian Drosera, I saw most of the TYPE material I wanted=20
to study. One of the most interesting observations was that what is=20
cultivated all over the world as D.villosa might have to change name. The=
=20
TYPE plants seem to be closer to what I thought was a new species I'd=20
collected not too far away from the D.villosa TYPE location. I'll have to=
=20
go to D.villosa's TYPE location soon to check this out. If it is what I=20
believe it might be, the plants we call D.villosa will have to change=20
name to D.ascendens, an old synonym which better represents the plants we=
=20
thought were D.villosa. Another interesting observation was that the TYPE=
=20
D.capillaris var.brasiliensis is really D.intermedia! So the D.capillaris=
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found here in Brazil have never actually received a suspecific =20
classification. Also curious was the TYPE D.parvifolia, which had been=20
synonymized to D.montana var.montana by Diels. It is actually depauperate=
=20
D.communis. =20
=09My stay in Paris was really short, mostly because I was already a=20
day behind my plans due to incompatible train schedules. Thus my=20
apologies to Gilles Lardy for not having the time to call back so we=20
could meet up. I was at a youth hostel and when I wasn't out at the=20
Natural History Museum, I was trying to catch up on my sleep at the=20
hostel (which is usually not something easy to do at a hostel!). It was a=
=20
pity, but hopefully next time.=20
=09To be continued................ England and Germany next.=20
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=09=09=09Fernando Rivadavia