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Hi everyone,

I went on yet another fieldtrip over the weekend in the hope of finding some nice forms of U. dichotoma and D. binata. I didn't have any luck with the binata but had very good success with the dichotoma. The place I visited was the Grampians National Park (supposedly has similarities with the Scottish Grampians- many more CP's though) in western Victoria, south eastern Australia. The area is probably the best spot to see wild CP's in this part of the country. It consists of granitc peaks and lowland heaths and swamps.

I've had to split up the posts because I had too many good photos to show and didn't know which ones to knock out. Anyway here are the shots.

Fisrtly, a mountain growing form of U. dichotoma. I consider this plant to be at least a ssp. of the typical dichotoma and is markedly different from the lowland typical forms. It is very small- no taller than 10cms, frequently around 5cms. The flowers scapes are very thin and fragile compared to the typical. The flower is smaller and a completely different shade of purple- this is consistent. The ridges on the palate are much more pronounced. The plants are annuals. Anyway here are a few shots of the plants and their habitat. They grow in moss on granite rocks with water flowing through the moss most of the year.

You can see plants growing in the depression as well as on the rocks to the left-

Utricularia%20aff.%20dichotoma%20habitat%20Wonderland%20Grampians%20241003.JPG


Next a population of the plants growing in the depression-

Utricularia%20aff.%20dichotoma1%20Wonderland%20Grampians%20251003.JPG


More plants growing in moss on top of granite-

Utricularia%20aff.%20dichotoma9%20Wonderland%20Grampians%20251003.JPG


A closeup of the flower-

Utricularia%20aff.%20dichotoma1.JPG


And a shot of the pollinator of U. aff. dichotoma. Its not a very good shot but you get the idea. It was very hard trying to follow a bee around when it only lands on each flower for about a second-

Utricularia%20aff.%20dichotoma%20with%20bee1%20Wonderland%20Grampians%20241003.JPG


I also managed to find the typical form of U. dichotoma growing at the base of the mountain range in permanently wet swampland. There were a couple of nice surprises amongst these plants-

Firstly the habitat. Plants grew in the water amongst the reeds in the foreground. The U. aff. dichotoma grows on top of the mountains in the distance-

Utricularia%20dichotoma%20habitat3%20Henty%20Highway%20Grampians%20241003.JPG


Next a beautiful form of the typical U. dichotoma-

Utricularia%20dichotoma2%20Lodge%20Rd.JPG


And another-

Utricularia%20dichotoma%20Henty%20Highway.JPG


Followed by a triple-header-

Utricularia%20dichotoma%20triple1%20Henty%20Highway%20Grampians%20241003.JPG


And finally, a superb white flowered variant-

Utricularia%20dichotoma%20white4%20Henty%20Highway%20Grampians%20241003.JPG


You can make up your own mind on whether you believe the two forms (highland and lowland) to be distinct- I certainly believe there is enough consistent differences for them to be considered at least different subspecies of U. dichotoma

I will post images of other species found on my trip in my next post, including a shot of 3 distinct dichotoma flowers side by side.

Please check out the follow-on post in the Drosera section.

Regards,

Sean.
 
You've outdone yourself this time.  I am there.  I can almost hear the bee buzz!  (This also answers my question of how my plants were polinated, we have many honey bees visit our yard!)

I don't know enough about Utricularia taxonomy to say much on that score.  I can say the form with the paler flowers is somewhat similar to the U. dichotoma found on Mt. Ruapehu in NZ: the flowers on plants there are much smaller, and the scapes much shorter than on the typical darker flowered form. The yellow spot is also differently shaped on the plants there. Probably Taylor had a different rationale than floral diagnostics though since he surely was aware of both forms.

The alba flower is really something to see.  Do you know if the seed breeds true?  This would be a fine plant to get into circulation, I don't recall ever seeing it in collections.

I especially like the shot of the field with the population in front.  Almost like standing there.  Almost.

You are very fortunate, considering your love of these plants to be where you are.  Or, maybe it is being where you are that has led to the love of the plants!   At any rate, we all are certainly profiting from your generosity and wonderful posts, and I thank you again "up over here".
 
Hi Tamlin,

I have no idea whether or not the seed of the white dichotoma breeds true or not. I've never tried to grow it from seed and don't know anybody who has. I've never seen this white variant in cultivation. Somebody has got to make an attempt to enter it into cultivation- maybe it should be me.

I'd be interested to see if the NZ Mt. Ruapehu form is the same as this one. I have seen photos of a plant from Tasmania thats appears to be very similar. I wonder if Peter Taylor did actually examine material of these variants or not?

It would be good to check out the trap formation and compare this to the typical dichotomas to check for any differences. I'll have to borrow Georges microscope.

See you down here one day.

Regards,

Sean.
 
Wow! You are so lucky to live in Australia, with all that natural flora and fauna surrounding you! Thank you for sharing the pictures with the rest of us who don't have the same opportunities.

SF:)
 
Wow. What beautiful scenery and, as always, photos. That mountain photo is gorgeous...what a sight!

Yep...I think it should be you, Sean, to get the white form into cultivation.
smile.gif
You are lucky to have the opportunity to see them and perhaps get some seed or plants. It would be great to see them get into the hands of good CP stewards who will grow and spread them. You could have an impact on the world of utrics.
smile.gif


Suzanne
 
Very nice pictures! Well done. It isnt often we get to see these utrics in nature.

Cole
 
As Mr. Burns onces said "Excellent".
 
Hi everyone,

I don't normally like to take plants from the wild unless it is something special that I believe needs to be spread through cultivation to prolong the existence of the particular species or variant.

As I said earlier in the thread-

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Somebody has got to make an attempt to enter it into cultivation- maybe it should be me.

This being the case I couldn't resist collecting a small clump of the white U. dichotoma with a single flower scape. The place it was collected from was not part of the Grampians National Park but in swampland next to a regional highway many kms from the N.P boundary (you can see the mountains of the N.P. in the distance of the habitat shot)

The great news is that the single flower scape that I collected has already begun to form a seed capsule. Obviously I don't know if the plant was cross pollinated with a typical purple flower or selfed. I'll just have to wait and see.

The most important thing is to make sure that the clump of leaves aroung the flower survive and more importantly spread throughout the pot. When this happens I will happily spread the plant around to as many serious Utric collectors as possible. They can then spread the plant around further to whoever they please.

Regards,

Sean.
 
Time for an update.

It's now around 3 and a half months since my visit and seed/plant collection. So far there have been some excellent results.

The U. aff. dichotoma plants that I assumed were annuals (at least they are in nature) continue to grow and more importantly spread throughout their pots. None have died. During the past 2 weeks many small seedlings are appearing over the surface of the mix. It appears that this form will at least make it to the next season.

The seeds collected from the typical U. dichotoma form from the lowland swamps are currently germinating en masse and should be covering all of the pots shortly.

No luck with the U. dichotoma white flowered form seed yet. Hopefully they will appear within the next week or so. The plant that I collected originally is just hanging on but has refused to spread. I am quietly praying that it sends out a stolon befores it passes away. Doesn't look good though. I am now relying on the seeds to prolong the existence of the plants in my collection.

So, it looks as though I will be able to spread around some of the U. aff. dichotoma and the typical form shortly. With luck the white form will follow.

Sean.
 
  • #10
No luck yet for me either with the "Sean's Ghost", but you never know what tomorrow will bring. I am happy the plants are doing well for you otherwise, especially the tuberous U. dichotoma!
 
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