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Tropical or temperate?

How do you tell the difference between a tropical and temperate Drosera intermedia? These came from Hope Despot last March, all were small sprouts in the same container. The largest one is about 3" across and the blossoms are white. Thanks in advance for any info anyone could give me.

droser10.jpg
 
If they came from home depot they are more likely then not the "cuba" form ,but as I`am no expert don`t quote me!
 
it depends where you live , if you live in the north where its cold and chilly it might as well be a temperate you are in the south it is more likely a tropical . btw , how are you growing the pants , looks like your keeping it waterlogged with bladderworts .
 
I live in the South so it must be a Cuban and I'll just keep them in the enclosure for the winter.  I'm growing the plants in an
ice cream sundae bowl with about 1-1/2" of peat/sand topped with a Fluval brand foam aquairium filter element. The filter
element is very porous so it's easy to flush the old water with fresh water which keeps it from stagnating. I originally had
them growing a mixture of 50/50 peat and sand (per "The Savage Garden"), but algae got so bad that it blocked the roots
from getting oxygen and the plants became stunted. I based this growing method on observations of wild ones in Florida.
Since I planted the sundews in their current setup, they have more than doubled in size in a little less than two months.
They are constantly waterlogged and the other stuff is some type of moss that I can't get rid of. I occasionally use a pair
of tweezers to thin it out, but I can't get all of it without damaging the plants and as long as it remains harmless, I'll let it
go.

Thanks for the verification, guys.

Alan
 
Drosera intermedia 'Cuba' is a smaller plant than many of the temperate forms of D. intermedia. In my experience, the 'Cuba' form is less than 1/2 the size of the temperate form. The temperate form I have grown has a leaf petiol of roughly 2 inches while the 'Cuba' or tropical form has a leaf petiol of ±1 inch.

You can also tell if you have the temperate form if the plant starts to form a hybernaculum.

D_intermediaHibernaculum.jpg

Drosera intermedia hybernaculum.

D_intermedia_temp_plant.jpg

Same plant after coming out of dormancy.
 
These are a couple of my D. intermedia 'Cuba'.  They are about 1½" (4cm) in diameter.  They flower constantly, but I don't think I've ever seen an open blossom.
                         
D.%20intermedia%20'Cuba'.jpg


alien.gif
 
I also have not seen the flowers open, but I know that they must. I have sown many seed from what I believe is a "Cuba".
and many young have appeared.
 
I have, on a lucky glance! They opened and closed within an hour!

SF
wow.gif
 
Nick and  BCK, those are nice looking sundews. Your plants may be a little smaller, but they are much more robust and colorful than the ones that I have and appear to be getting better light. Mine have been grown mostly under flourescent lights. Looks like the key word here is hibernaculam. Since I have two sets of these little guys growing, the second set coming from offshoots from the ones in the photo, I think I will put one set outside to see if wants to go dormant and leave the other in the enclosure and watch what it does. The only thing I know to do is to experiment, and in case of a failure, well, those plants have provided me with a lot of backup seeds.
Thanks for the pics and info.
BTW, I have only caught mine blooming a couple of times in the early morning around sunrise.
 
  • #10
hi,

If your plants are the temperate Drosera intermedia, they will form a hibernacula for sure. You don't need to place them outside in the cold. They will most probably do it inside the house as well.

I caught an opened flower of my Drosera intermedia 'roraima' earlier this year. Here is the picture. I guess all the other variants have the same flower structure.



Btw, my intermedia 'roraima' is much bigger than the intermedia 'cuba'. The petioles of my intermedia 'cuba' are only about 2cm long, while those of my other forms are surely twice this size.

Christian
 
  • #11
Christian, that's ironic because after two cooler nights outside, I decided to bring them back in. I saw a small change in them that didn't look right so now I'll leave them alone and let them grow.

Alan
 
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