Date: Thu, 07 Oct 1999 09:54:06 PDT From: "Russell Buckley" <russellbuckley@hotmail.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3476$foo@default> Subject: I need help
Hi cp
Sorry I don't know you're name. I was told by sundew@hotmail.com that you a
lot knew about Drosera. I am currently writing a project about Sundew and
its associations with other plants and mosses. I carried out the research
for my project on the bogs of southern England (Dorset and the New forest
and so I'm particularly interested in Drosera rotundifolia and D.intermedia
as they were the only two species of Sundew that I found. Could you please
help me out by answering a couple of questions. I have read in a few places
that Drosera is associated with Sphagnum moss where a technique was
described for cultivating Drosera in Sphagnum. Could you tell what it is
about Sphagnum that makes it a good environment for growing Drosera because
I have been told that the Sphagnum retains a high level of moisture and is
acidic which is understandable but i have also been told that the fact that
it is low in nutrients and nitrates is also beneficial, which seemed odd to
me. Drosera can obviously live under conditions of low nutrients but I
wouldn't have thought the Sphagnum being deficient in nutrients would have
been a benefit, can't Drosera survive in high nutrient conditions?
A key question I have, which despite all my best efforts I have not been
able to answer, is what is the content of the digestive secretion on the
leaves, what enzymes are present, is it acidic, are there special cells in
the plant designed to produce the secretion?
Do you know of any associations between Drosera and other bog plants apart
from Sphagnum moss?
The results from my project show that in Dorset there was an abundance of
D.rotundifolia, whereas in the New Forest there was more D.intermedia. I am
not yet fully sure of the reason for this difference, there was
significantly more ground water in Dorset compared to the New Forest but
apart from that the two areas were fairly similar. What likely causes are
there for the differences in species distribution, could it be soil pH or is
it more likely to be nutrient content or some other factor?
If you could answer any of these questions, or if you know someone who can,
or if you could advise me of any relevant books, I would be very grateful.
Thanks again
Russell Buckley
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