Date: Fri, 09 Jan 98 17:41:10 GMT From: saharris@iafrica.com (Eric Green) To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg115$foo@default> Subject: Drosera sp. "floating"
Dear Dave and all other cp fans,
Drosera sp. "floating" is allied to D. admirabilis (ie in the D.
cuneifolia complex). I have yet to see the flower structure but the
leaf, to 2 cm long, is cuneiform, with very few white hairs on the leaf
undersurface (cf D. aliciae). The scape has an ascending base which
clears the rosette edge before becoming erect (this is closer to D.
aliciae than D. admirabilis).
This variant grows in a shallow, perennial creek adjacent to D. regia, in a
mountain valley NE of Cape Town. It's ambiguous fieldname is derived
from some plants in the colony which grow in a few cm of water, and which
have short, flexible stems and leaves with up arched bases, so that the
rosettes are at the water surface and may be moved around a little on the
flexible, but definitely strongly fixed stem. This field name has led to some
confusion on how to cultivate this variant. One additional feature of this
variant, apparently not shared by other perennial flat rosetted Drosera in
South Africa is the pressence of sessile, small red, retentive galnds on the
leaf undersurface. Before the month is out I look forward to revisiting the
site, and , hopefully, see the open flowers.
More details, with a sketch, are in the September Bulletin of the
Ausytralian Carnivorous Plant Society, or check out photos taken by
Fernando or myself. This variant is readily available from nurseries in
Europe, especially Germany, and those plants in cultivation appear to
have a more extensive hair cover on the leaf undersurface.
Stay tuned for further details....
Robert Gibson
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