D. burkeana seedling pics please?

Zongyi_Yang · Jan 12, 2004

hi. does anyone have some D. burkeana pics that they can show me? i am looking for seedling pics, not of grown plants. The cp photo finder mainly had grown plants, so that didn't help too much. the reason is that i have a lot of their seedlings, which are 2-3 cm in diameter right now, but im not really sure if they are really burkeana. here is my discription:
plants are kinda green, maybe not enough light. i just moved it closer to the flourescents

the leaf is about half as long as the petiole

their seems to be white hairs coming from the rosett, and sticking up

they move fairly fast to catch their prey

They seem to keep in their rosettes, and havn't started to grow too tall yet

I hope someone can help me. thanks. Zongyi

Tamlin Dawnstar · Jan 13, 2004

Drosera burkeana is quite variable across its range. It is also a frequently misidentified species. Here is a photo of my plant, but be aware that the phenotype is plastic.

The most reliable feature for diagnosis is the seed which is black, ovoid and pitted. Another good feature is the cross section of the petiole which should be tetrete: round in cross section: narrow, and not flat. Obermeyer states the petiole is about equal to the lamina, but other field and herbarium researchers have found more variation than is suggested by Obermeyer's key in regards to petiole length.

A photo of your plant would help.

Zongyi_Yang · Jan 13, 2004

i dont have any more seed to compare. i would like to compare the petioles, but i still don't get what you mean by "round in cross section: narrow, and not flat". i just took another look and popped out a ruler. i guess my eyes decieved me a little, the petioles and the leaf is about the same size. thanks for the help Tamlin. Zongyi (ps. your photo dosn't seem to be working)

Tamlin Dawnstar · Jan 13, 2004

What do you not understand about the petiole cross section? If you were to slice it and look at it end on, it would be round, not oval. Of the South African flat rosetted species, only D. burkeana will demonstrate this. D. dielsiana has much wider petioles: D. burkeana has quite narrow ones and any of the other species are likewise broad and flat.

I don't know why the photo won't load, but if your plants are seedlings it probably wouldn't help you much. wait until the plants mature some and post a photo. and maybe I can help you with the ID more.

Be aware that this is a frequently misidentified species, and not overly common in collections. Good luck with your potential D. burkeana.

Zongyi_Yang · Jan 13, 2004

ok, thanks tamlin. i think i get it now. i was thinking of slicing the leaf in half, not the petiole

. so i was thinking that slicing the leaf wouldn't make anything round or oval

. i will try to get a leaf. thanks for the info. Zongyi

Zongyi_Yang · Jan 13, 2004

well, looks like it may not be a burkeana as the petioles are oval

. it looks like a burmanii to me as it has those retentive glands (i think. they look like it) and move quite fast. my big plant is 3 cm in diameter right now, hope it matures soon. thanks for the help Tamlin

. Zongyi

CPangel · Jan 15, 2004

Hi Tamlin,

There is a picture of Drosera burkeana from Zimbabwe at http://sundewgrower.com/growlist.html and another 1 which was mislabelled as being from Johannesburg. I read that you redetermined burkeana plants you were growing to be Drosera pilosa. However, there is a photo of Drosera pilosa at bestcarnivorousplants.com which looks nothing like your plant. Is their plant mislabelled or could yours be? Can you post similar pictures of your burkeana and pilosa for comparison? What countries are each of your plants from and are you sure about their identities?

It looks like both are growing well for you. When can we expect to see it in more collections? I haven't seen pilosa on anyone else's plant lists.

Angel

Tamlin Dawnstar · Jan 16, 2004

Yes, I agree Matt is responsible for circulating a lot of bogus and misidentified material. The Johannesburg D. burkeana is a good example of D. capillaris although he distributed it for years as D. burkeana, and it has since been sold as such by several nurseries who redistributed it based on his say so. He has a way of continuing to sell material that has been proven to be misidentified, to "avoid more confusion" since he distributed so much of the material. The "Zimbabwe" D. burkeana Matt has posted the photo of is what I would expect D. burkeana to look like, although there is a chance that this might be D. pilosa as well, at least insofar as the hairs on the scape show.

D. pilosa was seggregated from D. burkeana by some features requiring micromorphic assessment. Expert opinions support that it is D. pilosa. The photo at Best CP may or may not be. I have no idea of how much variability is expressed by this species.

It is a sensitive alpine form, but it should be making the rounds in time as I have distributed it here and there. I have only flowered it once, so it is still very rare in cultivation. It's not a beginner plant by any means.

Photo's are up on Bob Z's website under this header.