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My Turn to Crow

I just found out that someone (not a forum member) is sending me seed of Drosera sp. "emas", a Braziian taxa well on it's was to being described as a new species. Anyone that knows me knows how hard and long I have been seeking the Brazilian taxa which are so difficult to grow, and so hard to reproduce. This will make a welcome addition to my other Brazilian Droserae, as well as for my seed testa study!

WooooHoooooo!
 
CONGRATULATIONS TAMLIN!!!! good luck with those!! how hard are they to grow anyways?

-josh
 
Feom what it sounds like they are hard to grow but my question is the same as his.
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Congrats Tamlin! Good luck growing it!
Cole
 
Tamlin,
What other droserae are Brazilian?
 
Drosera arenicola, ascendens, chrysolepsis, communis, gramminifolia, gaomogolensis, hirtella, hirtela lutescens, hirticalix, kaieteurensis, montana montana, montana var. tomentosa, montana var. schwackii, roraima, sessilifolia, villosa are all endemic to various parts of South America, and notably on the various Tepui’s there along with many species of Utricularia, Genlisea, Brocchinia, and Heliamphora. Beacause of the isolation, there is a high degree of speciation and variation within various populations.

As for how difficult they are to grow, the difficulties lie in being able to meet the requisite cool temperatures these species require to grow, along with high humidity and good light. Ideal maximums are in the 50F’s. The plants are also sensitive to root disturbance, and impure water. This means for most of us we have to be able to do some serious terrarium cooling, and use distilled water, and this involves hefty cash outlay.

However, like most plants, once they have what they need they grow. The hard part is providing what they need.

The greatest difficulty seems to be in acquisition of them. Close to a decade after the collections made by Fernando Rivadavia, they remain almost unknown in collections over the world. The plants are not autogamous, and do not generally self seed, and also require pollen from a clonal variant to effect fertilization, much as the petiolaris, D. adelae and D. binata do. They are all very slow growing, and may require several years to produce a flowering specimen. Seed has a very short viability window when it is produced.

Finally, these are some of the most mis-identified Droserae to be found, and the seed sometimes offered by various nurseries and seedbanks almost inevitably turns out to be a more common species like spatulata or dielsiana.

Sp. “emas” is currently a “bogus” species, meaning it has not been formally published. Taxonomists often work slowly. After 2 years of constant and diligent searching I have few species in cultivation, and my planned data base of seed testa photos will have very few of these species represented unless I can convince the growers of them to donate some seed for the project. To date, this has not been much forthcoming in spite of my efforts. See the headprints on that brick wall? They're mine.

This small victory has given me a little hope. With accurately ID’d digital scans of the seed coat, much time and expense can be spared by not having to grow out seed, only to find it is really spatulata, and seed banks and commercial dealers would have a way to keep more accurate control of what they send out. Good for us all.

Such is my hope! If anyone knows any potential sources for this seed, I would be very interested in hearing of it.
 
Can any of them do with 70ºF in the summer and 55ºF in the winter? Thank you.
 
Hi Tamlin,

Do you have D. graminifolia or D. montana var. tomentosa?

Regards,

Christer
 
  • #10
Tristan,

I am not experienced enough to answer with authority, and have to little material to risk on experimenting. I can say that sessilifolia will grow like this, as I have had success with it under these conditions.

Graomogolensis is less heat sensitive, and possibly montana montana, beyond this I xan't add anything.

Christer,

I am growing one plant each of the species you mention, but if you have any leads to sources of this or any of the other seed, this is what I am most looking for, so that it may be digitally scanned. I have no seed, and no source for it Private message me if you have a source for seed!
 
  • #11
Tamlin,

Great news! Best of luck on your project.
 
  • #12
As some of you know, I grow many Brazilian and Venezuelan Drosera successfully. I have seen better specimens of some of the species I've got but my methods work for me, with no losses. I find the Venezuelan plants easier than the Brazilians but neither (with only a couple exceptions) are what I consider very difficult with my conditions. However, they are a lot slower growers than some other Drosera. 50F "max" must be a typo. That's more like a good minimum temperature for them. A high of 75F would be great for many but I believe a normal high of 80-85 would be ok for many. There are exceptions. Keep in mind that most plants growing in wet areas are sitting in cold ground water, even when the air in their habitats can get hot.

I find sp. Emas to be the easiest of the Brazilians to grow. It's also one of my personal favorites. This and communis seed in particular are very short-lived, but some of the others are not, unless they have not been stored properly. If you want to see some photos of some of these plants in cultivation, check out my web page: http://www.sundewgrower.com/growlist.html. Some of these photos are really old and plants have grown a lot since, but this will give you an idea. (Gee, this might be a good time to upload some new pics&#33
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Also check out Fernando's fabulous images of plants in habitat (see my links page). If you want additional info on how I grow my plants, check out the rest of my website and Pete Thiels page which includes an interview at http://cpzine.com/article.aspx?cid=3&y=2001&m=8&d=20. Just remember that what works for me might not work for you and vice versa. So, even if you don't think you have suitable conditions for these plants, you might... I have traded and sold quite a few of these so they should theoretically become more common in collections in the future. I've got stuff for trade but my current wishlist is pretty short.

Happy growing!
Matt
 
  • #13
Matt,

If you put up more scans/photos on your page, try to include some details of the scapes and flowers if this is possible? The latest scans were great in that they showed these details which are very important for ID purposes. I especially appreciated the kaieteurensis and graomogolensis!
 
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