B. aquatica

[Cindy]

I mislabelled the plants and grew them as B. filifolia in moist LFS. They are now flowering at the height of 6cm and THEN I realise that they are actually the aquatic species.



The flowers do not open fully in my conditions.


The seeds were labelled as "copper coloured stems up to 20cm tall".


Dark purple petals


Compared with mauve/lilac B. filifolia petal


Anther cf filament length

[jimscott]

Will you get seeds?

[Cindy]

I read that the species self-polliates. The flower opens, closes and drops off in less than 2 days. I am trying to pollinate the flowers manually...not easy as they do not open fully. Hoping for seeds too as these are the only to grow well for me. And flower continuously!

[Cindy]

Yo, jimscott....

[Greg Allan]

Great plants, Cindy. It's funny that you say that the flowers do not open fully. They don't open properly in my conditions either. Have you noticed that the tentacles of this species are particularly short? I have also noticed that the droplets of mucus seem to readily detach from the tentacles. I think it probably captures prey in a manner similar to Drosophyllum, only in minature. I think that the differences between this species and B filifolia and guehoi are particularly stark.

Cheers,

Greg

[Cindy]

Hi Greg,

Take a look at the photos here. It seems that they don't open up like other Byblis flowers.

The difference in stature already sets this species apart from the rest. B. filifolia and guehoi plants of the same age are at least 2-3 times as tall. B. rorida of the same age is also taller - easily distinguished by the long tentacles on the sepals. The leaves and pedicels are also shorter than for the other species of the same age.

The B. aquatica also self-pollinates, which is similar to B. liniflora. Both these species have the anthers very close to the stigma and the anthers shorter than the filament.

The tentacles are as you have noticed (very short) and the dew drops are particularly large too. I have not noticed about the mucilage of this species (will check it out)...but of the others because I get it on my hands while trying to cross pollinate the flowers.

Cheers!

[Greg Allan]

Hi Cindy,

Yes, I agree. I have also noticed that B aquatica has a disproportionately stout stem compared to other species, and that, other than on the undersides of its leaves where the mucilage is very profusely profused, the gland density is very sparse. I wonder whether it is more advanced in terms of adaptions to carnivory than the other Byblis species? As for the flowers, I have a CD that I got from Allen Lowrie in which there are several photos of B aquatica in habitat some of which are displaying fully open flowers. A couple of the plants have flowers that are fully open, but others haven't. There is also a photo of a B aquatica with white flowers. Have you got Stewart's CPs of the World Vol 2? He records that B aquatica can survive the dry season in the wild (seemingly just the stem) and then resume growth once the rain returns. I think that B aquatica is a particularly interesting species.

This is a shot of one of this year's plants with larger cousins (B filifolia seedlings) in the background:




Also, a couple of older shots of plants displaying some of the characteristics you describe (no shots of the anthers/filaments, but I can confirm that I have observed similar proportions on my plants:





I can't see how it can be the same species as these two:

B filifolia


B guehoi

[bluemax]

Interesting thread, Cindy! Does this species sprout as easily as B. liniflora?

[Cindy]

Interesting thread, Cindy! Does this species sprout as easily as B. liniflora?

If you mean sow fresh seeds and they germinate easily like B. liniflora, then I wouldn't know. I use GA3 for all Byblis seeds. If the B. aquatica seeds are viable, they germinate as quickly as other viable seeds of the rest of the species after treatment.

I am puzzled by why other B. aquatica plants never did well for me....they either died very quickly or never flowered. These two were mistaken for B. filifolia and one of them is even branching!

[Cindy]

Plants of the same age and all flowering.

B. aquatica and B. filifolia (left)


B. aquatica and two forms of B. rorida (2 pots of "thick stem, stocky" form and 1 pot of "typical")