> The site near Alcala has been confirmed (thousands of specimens)
> in March 1996:
I just confirmed it also, on April 15, 1996 ! Apparently, this is a
very well known site, as I found it simply by asking a caretaker at
the botanical gardens in Palos de la Frontera, and then found it again
in a pictorial guide of European flora at a web site in The Netherlands.
It was very exciting to see see these plants growing in the wild,
and in such a beautiful area, surrounded by vast forests of cork
trees.
There must be many small sites in this general area, because the site
I visited is several kilometers from the one you mention, but along
the same road. While driving around, I found another small site a
couple of kilometers down the road. I certainly hope there are as
many as thousands of specimens in the area, because at the site I
visited, I counted roughly 50. There was another small habitat a
little bit up the hill where I counted about 35. This whole area was
maybe 100m square, and surrounded by other types of soil and habitats
unsuited for it (shady forest, rich soil, etc.).
My look at the area was devoid of anything resembling scientific rigor,
but I did manage to make a few interesting observations about the
habitat drosophyllum seemed to prefer at this particular site:
. It grew only on rocky outcroppings exposed to full sunlight, and
in bare areas where the underlying nutrient-poor soil had been
exposed. I never saw it growing where there was a layer of organic
soil on the surface, even if this soil was just a few centimeters
away from a plant growing in poor soil. It only seemed to grow
on those parts of the hill facing south.
. The soil it grows in is maybe 40% very fine silica-looking sand,
30% of a fine, light-beige-colored dolomite or silty-looking
powder, and 30% rocks of this same material varying between 1cm
and 10cm in diameter. When dry, this soil compacts and becomes hard
almost like cement.
Sorry, my knowledge of soil composition is practically nil.
(Anyone have easy access to a soil analysis facility ?
I can send samples)
. The plants only grow in well-drained spots in the soil, such as
cracks between rocks, soil with a slight slope, and in the little
grooves or valleys in the rock outcroppings where the water flows
down when it rains (i.e. places that receive a good amount of water
but which drains away quickly). I'd say that at least 90% of the
ones I saw grew out of the cracks in and between rocks. I never
saw it growing in flat spots where the water might collect or keep
the soil moist for several days.
. The plants I saw seemed to mostly grow in narrow trails down
the mountainside, not in wide patches. Apparently, the seeds
get washed down the hill and deposited in the cracks and grooves
below, so you find them growing in trails down through these
depressions in and between the rocks.
. It is definitely a perennial, as many of the larger plants I saw had
stems up to 1cm in diameter, and thick mats of dead leaves from
previous seasons. They looked like they'd been there for years and
years.
. There were no flowers yet - just a few buds forming on 3 or 4 of
the plants I saw - so I couldn't collect any seed.
> All the sites I know from Spain (cited in Diels, 1906) are in the province
> of Cadiz between Cadiz and Gibraltar:
>
> Cadiz
> Chiclana (de la Frontera)
> Alcala de los Gazules
> Jimena (de la Frontera)
> Algeciras
> N San Roque
> Gibraltar
Thanks for the list! Do you have any more specific directions to
any of them ? These are all large towns and cities.
I took lots of pictures of the habitat and plants, but unfortunately
I doubt many of them will be of "archiveable" quality. My apartment
was broken into recently and all my camera equipment was stolen, so
the pictures I took were with a disposable Kodak camera (obviously,
my site visit will not make it into the annals of botanical history).
If anyone wants to see some good pictures of the plants at this site
taken last year, take a look at the web site at:
(follow the links to Drosophyllum lusitanicum) It's got lots of good
pictures of European flora, many with very specific site directions.
I also found another link to a site with lots of very good CP photos:
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA
Best regards,
Gordon Wells
Instituto de Cibernetica
Diagonal 647, planta 2
Barcelona 08028
SPAIN