15 replies to this topic

[Belinda]

Hi
Shaws Ridge is in the lower mtns  west of Sydney .
The only cp in the whole area Appeared to be literally thousands of Peltata.
This form of peltata appeared a lot different to the peltata of kedumba.
They where more fragile , stems thinner , flower buds also appeared  different . I dont pretend to be an expert  far from it, but these  surely cant be the same form as Kedumba .












What i found strange also was the lack of spatulata at this spot  - absolutely none .Yet the conditions appeared perfect plenty of underground seepage etc.

regards Belinda

[Sean Spence]

Hi Belinda,

You are absolutely correct, these are much different from the Drosera peltata you will have found elsewhere. These are actually Drosera auriculata. They grow much taller than the regular D. peltata and have flowerbuds that are glabrous rather than the hairy buds associated with D. peltata. They usually grow in slightly drier habitats than D. peltata.

In my experience, where you find D. auriculata growing you generally don't find D. spatulata

[Belinda]

Thanks for the info Sean.
That confirms why they appeared so different.
regards Belinda

[TheCarnifreak]

Very nice pics again Belinda!

[JanW]

I always enjoy the pictures of your field trips. Thanks!

Jan

[Greg Allan]

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. You Aussies are so lucky!

[sundewrex]

Greg Allan said:

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. You Aussies are so lucky!

Same feelings as mine,Belinda they seem to be found easily around your town, I would like to know how much time you spend on earch trip,I had to walk 6-7 hrs on my each trip as there is no helicopter for rent.

Thanks for sharing

rex

[Belinda]

Hi
Sundewrex
Most of the spots are within 1to 1.5hours of my house .
For instance shaws ridge is about 20mins by car and the sundew a further 15mins along a fire trial .
Inga swamp is about 1hr from my house with the sundews about 5mins from where you park your 4wd.
Rodriguez pass is about 1.5 hours form my house but about a 2hour walk to the sundews .
Rileys Mtn is about 30mins from our house and about  a 40min walk to the sundew area.
We are truly blessed in Australia with such easy access to sundew
colonies .

So its fair to say most of our trips so far have been no more than a couple of hours in the morning . Generally home by lunch to do orther chores around the house and get the kids off the playstation    

They are amazingly common as has been said before most overseas members would be stunned as to how common they actually are.
Regards Belinda

[sundewrex]

I would like to know how Australia people love to enjoy those cps in Australia ?as beside sean and george, there are not many  Australia cps grower talking  about them....

rex

[Sean Spence]

Short answer Rex- very few Australian growers do appreciate the native CPs.

From the growers in the city of Melbourne I would estimate that there are probably around 5-6 who regularly go searching for them and/or make an effort to grow and collect them. Most other growers seem to prefer growing Nepenthes, Sarracenia and VFTs. When we organise fieldtrips for our local society we are lucky to get more than a handful of people turning up. In Sydney there is probably a similar amount of enthusiasts.

That is one reason why I like to post forum of my trips on this forum as I know that they will be read by growers who are interested.

[Bob H]

That's not just true of Australians is it?
CP growers are very much centred on those 3 genera, followed by Drosera, etc. I think it is all down to availability and variety, certainly in the case of Sarracenia.

I wish I had that diverse a selection of CPs on my doorstep :-)

[sundewrex]

Seandew said:

Short answer Rex- very few Australian growers do appreciate the native CPs.

From the growers in the city of Melbourne I would estimate that there are probably around 5-6 who regularly go searching for them and make an effort to grow and collect them. Most other growers seem to prefer growing Nepenthes, Sarracenia and VFTs. When we organise fieldtrips for our local society we are lucky to get more than a handful of people turning up.

That is one reason why I like to post forum of my trips on this forum as I know that they will be read by growers who are interested.

Same as Hong kong's,Most of them are interested in Orchid and Violet.I am guessing that most of the cps grower are having particular  behaviors  such as  Full of imaginations and curiosity.
rex

[Sean Spence]

I think it has a bit to do with availability and alot to do with size and perceived attractiveness.

Most growers here think the native stuff is small and unattractive. Utricularia and Pinguicula are not popular because they are small and their carnivorous nature is not obvious or apparent. The thing about the native Drosera for instance is that you can go to any bit of bushland in the state and find an abundance of them. After a short while most people get sick of seeing the same plants.

In regards to Pinguicula, I am the only serious collector in the state. I constantly here comments that they don't look like CPs. As an example, a number of CPs were present on a table at a recent VCPS meeting and a new member was asking questions about the plants. On the table were Nepenthes, Sarracenia, Drosera, Cephalotus and a single Pinguicula. The guy asked why that Ping was there as he didn't think it was a CP.

With Utricularia there is another single serious grower in Melbourne and another in Sydney that I am aware of. That's in a combined population of around 10 million people!

The popularity in Nepenthes has skyrocketed here since people have come to realise that they aren't so difficult to grow. Suppliers like Phill Mann, Geoff Mansell and Rod Kruger have made many of the previously impossible to obtain plants available and at increasingly more reasonable prices. All the young kids who become members of our CP society are exclusively interested in Nepenthes

The variety of Sarracenia down here does not compare with the US, Europe, UK or Japan. Many of the great varieties like S. flava var. atroprupurea are unobtainable. Nice plants are difficult to come by hence my collection of these is minimal (space restrictions are another reason).

You guys may often wish that you had CPs growing on your doorstep. I often wish that there were more serious growers in my country.

[Sean Spence]

sundewrex said:

Same as Hong kong's,Most of them are interested in Orchid and Violet.

The same occurs here. Orchids are incredibly popular and the amount of societies is amazing. I think there are over 30 in the city of Melbourne.

[sundewrex]

Seandew said:

sundewrex said:

Same as Hong kong's,Most of them are interested in Orchid and Violet.

The same occurs here. Orchids are incredibly popular and the amount of societies is amazing. I think there are over 30 in the city of Melbourne.

Yes,they like bigger flowers and longer leaves rather than use a magnifier to see those drosera dew.

rex

[Belinda]

Hi

Quote

Short answer Rex- very few Australian growers do appreciate the native CPs.

I think as you said Sean it has to do with how common they are . I find even now being a relative newbie to cps, that finding same old same old does get a little boring.
I still think with the lack of people actually searching out cps in the wild . Their is still a chance of finding something unusual or a strange variant even in NSW.
Im still looking in swamp fringes for that rogue  whittakerii           ( joke)
Regards Belinda