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Drosera natalensis "coccicaulis"

This plant holds on to money better than I do!

williamsDvenustacoccicaulus.jpg
 
looks great!
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For some reason I really like the look of that one more than other species...
 
Wow William!

Those plants look very healthy and dewy...but they seem to eat a lot of money! ;)
 
Hi William,

That's really a great plant!

I still have problems to accept Drosera venusta (coccicaulis is venusta, but collected somewhere else than the type) as Drosera natalensis. The D. natalensis i grow are so much different from my venusta (different flowers, different leaf forms...)! I'm my mind it just makes no sense to reduce D. venusta to D. natalensis.

Christian
 
Christian,

Considering the variability within Drosera natalensis across it's range I think one must look beyond the obvious phenotypical differences. I have seen plants with spoon shaped lamina superficially similar to D. spatulata, only hairy. I have seen the same form with wider lamina as in D. venusta and D. "coccicaulis". I have seen lamina closely approximating those of D. aliciae but with a lax and open rosette. I have seen very narrow lamina: about the width of D capensis.

I have D. dielsiana which are intermediate with D. natalensis by virtue of the less divided styles (remember the photo I posted in the ID forum? Robert thought this would have to be called D. natalensis!) I also have D. dielsiana that look like miniature D. venusta only with green lamina, but with the same upright form.

So I would again stress that a very open mind is required regarding this complex species, and a willingness to surrender the cherished taxonomic concept of "typical", and remember that especially in South Africa the word species is a verb, not a noun. So Christian, in this case I find I am in support of Dr. Schlauer's opinion that there are already too many "species" within the D. natalensis/aliciae/burkeana/dielsiana/nidiformis/madagascariensis complex.

For those of us with less of a categorical imperative, all the forms are beautiful and worth growing. This particular form is robust and handsome.


If anyone else has D. natalensis in cultivation, please post some photos!

The form I want to find is the one Rico posted photos of. I suspect this is the way the plants in Madagascar would look, and these would be the most pure examples within a variable species.

Rex, yes this is the seed I sent to you.
 
Hi,

These plants sure are beatiful and worth cultivating! Those are one of my favourite plants!

William, i understand your point very well! There is very much introregression/hybridization, especillay in the south-african Drosera that it is sometimes really hard to assign a species name for the plants we are growing. But, in the case of Drosera venusta/natalensis i(!) don't really think it is good to reduce them to D. natalensis. If this is done, i wonder what justifies the "species-status" of Drosera dielsiana for example. I have plants of Drosera dielsiana, that look nearly the same than my D. venusta or natalensis. For me, the consequence would be to reduce them to D.natalensis as well. At least from my non biological view ;) All this is based on experiences of my cultivated plants.

William, i'm still trying to get seeds of such a plant, that Rico posted, for you!

Christian
 
Nice plants:) I like all the taxonamic talk,keep it comin`!
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Christian,

Rico's plant looks like what I "expect" Drosera natalensis to look like, from past cultivation experience.

It is interesting that the form which closely resembles D. aliciae is seggregated from it partially by virtue of the lax and open rosettes: the basal leaves do not persist as in D. aliciae. The seed pods are also more oblong vs round which is another determinator to tell these two apart.

For me, D. natalensis is a shy flowering species, occasionally not setting seed. Thank you very much for your effort in getting seed from Rico. I am patient ;-). When I first saw Rico's photos I was delighted to see once more the form I had grown many years ago.

Pond boy, I had no idea you were a budding taxonomist. You will be a valuable addition to the community......provided you survive, that is!
 
  • #10
Why wouldn`t I? I mean I survived acute idiopathic pancreatitis,and copperhead snake bite!
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Why wouldn`t I? I mean I survived acute idiopathic pancreatitis,and copperhead snake bite!

Ha! That pales in comparrison to a jargon slinging William! Good luck keeping you head from spinning....
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  • #12
Well, you are one of the luckiest and the unluckiest soldier's I have met. Tough too. So, no more surprises, ok? - and watch out for meteorites. Sheesh.
 
  • #13
There is a good side to bitten by US snake, a least was not an Australian snake got you. We have the charming prize of having the top 10 deadly land snake in the world. Taipans, King Brown, Brown, Black, Tigers and Dead adder to name a few. We also have very interesting spiders, jellyfishs, etc.
 
  • #14
Yeah, go spit in Australia and you either hit a fabulously rare plant or a deadly snake. Its sort of a Yin Yang thing I think.
 
  • #15
Uh...lets refrain from mentioning spinning heads...
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  • #16
Snakes are not that bad, most run, except in breeding season. To be honest when I lived in Eastern Australia I was more worry about the bloody Funnel-webs (BTW did you know Funnel webs can only hurt primates and new born baby mice, all other mammals are not effected) and the bulldog ant (This bugger grows to 1 1/2" and you do know when you are bitten for next 8 hours or so.) and it's relative the Jumping ant (It chases you!!) and for plants, a pleasant walk in the rainforest included dodge the stinging trees ( Think of a stinging nettle. A very BIG stinging nettle.) we had two varieties were I live Bad and very Bad. Up in QLD some species are called happy moments. Why? because when the pain finally goes away it's happy moments. After six months of pain you can't blame them.
Anyone want to come down under? At least we don't have bears,wolves and tigers (maybe Yowies)
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  • #17
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Khoas @ April 27 2004,7:10)]We have the charming prize of having the top 10 deadly land snake in the world.

We actually only have 8 of the top 10.
 
  • #18
Well copperheads will bite totally unprovoked! I was just minding my own business picking pears when............BAM! WHACK! OUCH!
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  • #19
Was it breeding season for snakes when you got bitten? Tiger and Brown snakes can have very bad tempers here especially around breeding season.
Then again it could just been in bad mood and you were too close.
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  • #20
Khoas, which seed do you have, labeled coccicaulis? Is it natalensis or venusta or dielsiana or... I'm fond of taxonomy, but sometimes....
 
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