Half a day on the Gran Sabana – but more time further south!

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Hello to all,

Last week I was working in the city of Manaus, in the heart of the Amazon Basin. Since I was already a few thousand km north from my hometown of São Paulo, why not go another 1000km further north to explore for CPs? At noon on Friday May 27 I took a flight from Manaus to Boa Vista, capital of the Brazilian state of Roraima on the border with Venezuela & Guyana. The initial plan was to explore the vast savannas north of Boa Vista, which I have zipped through a few times in the past on my way to and from different tepuy expeditions in Venezuela. I had only ever explored a single site along this road, where I’d found U.simulans, D.sessilifolia, and the tiniest non-pygmy Drosera I’ve ever seen: D.biflora. I was sure there must be lots more cool CPs in those steamy hot lowland savanas – but who wants to waste time here when huge tepuys and the Gran Sabana await a few hundred km to the north??

As I was saying, the intention was to explore the savanas of northern Roraima state. But once I found myself driving the rental car along the road north of Boa Vista…. I just couldn’t resist driving all the way across the border to Santa Elena (it was less than 250km)! Rental cars are supposedly not allowed across international borders, but it was worth a try… After all, what was the worst that could happen?

I was afraid the border would close before I could reach it, but I couldn’t resist stopping to explore a small waterfall close to the road at 250m altitude. This was past the lowland savannas, where the road began its ascent of the Gran Sabana foothills towards the Venezuelan border at around 900m altitude. Along the river I saw a few flowerless scapes of what was either U.erectiflora, U.lloydii, or U.adpressa.

Next to the waterfall there were smooth rocks with water seeping over them. In one area, I found young D.sessilifolia growing directly on the wet rocks or on a thin layer of a muddy mush over the rocks. In another area, also on wet rocks or in islands of vegetation, I found D.capillaris growing with U.subulata. Or was it D.esmeraldae? Or D.biflora? Nearly 10 years ago I sequenced a stretch of DNA from the D.biflora I’d found further south along this same road and it was identical to that of D.esmeraldaeand very close to southern Brazilian D.capillaris (http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/90/1/123).

Could they all be the same species? The only real difference is apparently size & seed shape, with D.biflora being smaller and D.capillaris having papillose seeds (versus foveolate in the other 2 species). Well the reticulate pattern in Drosera seed is nothing more than sunken papillae (a matter of when and if the papillae sink when they dry out), while plant size is very relative. In cultivation, D.biflora grows much larger than what it reached in the wild. Or did it? I’d only seen wild D.biflora once at the height of the dry season, when most D.sessilifolia had already died off. Could it be that during the wet season they grew larger and became… D.capillaris/ esmeraldae? Maybe I could stop by the D.biflora site on my way back to Boa Vista, after all it is now more or less the middle of the wet season...

D.capillaris/ esmeraldae/ biflora with U.subulata on wet rocks:

D.sessilifolia growing with algae on wet rocks:

The habitat where D.sessilifolia grew (similar to the one where D.capillaris/ esmeraldae/ biflora were found):

I successfully crossed the Venezuelan border around 5pm and was presented with an inspiring sunset view of Mt.Roraima & Mt.Kukenán surrounded by clouds in the distance. I found a hotel in Santa Elena and went to bed early so I could get an early start the next day. I got up at sunrise, around 5:30am, and after grabbing a quick bite to eat in Sta.Elena I headed north into the Gran Sabana. It was a very clear morning with only a few ground-hugging clouds and I was blessed with the clearest view I’d ever had of the eastern tepuys. What fantastic scenery!!

Here are 2 shots of Traamen-Ilu:

And a family picture of the eastern tepuys:

But the joy lasted for only 60km or so, until I reached the first military checkpoint, where I was informed that it was as far as I could go with the rental car… I’d never expected to get that far, but it was nonetheless a bummer to be so close and not be able to go any further. I’d really wanted to explore the northern Gran Sabana, which is the most interesting part – as well as the area I’ve explored the least.

Driving back south, I didn’t feel like stopping much to explore the countless seepages with moriche palms, since I knew there were few Drosera species in this area, probably no Heliamphora, and mostly known Utrics & Genlisea. I also didn’t want to waste time revisiting places I’d already explored in the past. But I did stop to explore the only roadside area where I saw B.reducta that morning. It was a grassy seepage at 900m altitude with a few moriche palms. Unfortunately it was close to a few houses and it didn’t take long for the local indian “chief” to come by and ask me for a “contribution” of around US$5.00 for taking pictures on his land. It ended up being a cheap price to pay, considering what I saw…

Here’s a view of the bog full of B.reducta and with the magnificent Mt.Kukenán & Mt.Roraima in the background:

And another shot of B.reducta:

The soil at this seepage was pure organic matter and was either very boggy or else boggy with a drier thin crust on top, which would usually give way under my feet. I quickly spotted D.communis, which is one of the species I was hoping to see. Until recently, most taxonomists doubted this species was present in Venezuela, confusing it with other species like D.roraimae. A few years ago I found plenty of D.communis around 500km to the northwest, in swampy lowlands of the Venezuelan Llanos – which was surprising since in Brazil it is mostly a highland species (I only know one area where D.communis occurs in hot lowlands, near the coastal city of Salvador).

I’d only seen D.communis once on the Gran Sabana, not far from the town of Kavanayén. There were only a few straggly plants under tall grasses. Andreas Fleischmann also reported finding D.communis on the Gran Sabana, at a site a little further north from the military checkpoint where I was turned around. The Venezuelan form of D.communis has relatively short & narrow leaves, as well as short stems. I found dead scapes on a few plants, but no flowers.

Around D.communis I found U.hispida with cream-colored flowers and grey spurs, U.adpressa with large yellow flowers, U.subulata, young flowerless rosettes of U.longeciliata, and a curious Genlisea species with yellow flowers and smooth scapes which I’d seen before in this region. This is apparently a new species, maybe closest to G.repens or G.roraimensis. Unfortunately I didn’t get many good pics of any CP at this site because during these wetter months on the Gran Sabana, there are often huge numbers of puri-puri flies which keep buzzing in and out of your ears. It’s maddening and their bites itch like hell!!

Several U.adpressa flowers together:

Creamy-yellow flowers of U.hispida covered with morning dew:

Rosettes of U.longeciliata:

The mysterious new Genlisea sp.:

In a less wet patch of firmer ground at this same site, I found some healthy D.roraimae with very nice deep-red coloring. A few plants had scapes and even open flowers. The columns of dead leaves, typical of this species, were sometimes covered with tiny white mushrooms. Most interestingly, a few D.communis were found growing side-by-side with D.roraimae . My DNA sequencing experiments years ago suggested these 2 species were not very distant and my studies of chromosome counts showed both had 2n=20. I was curious if hybrids were possible between the two, but was not able to find any.

Here’s D.communis (L) and 3 D.roraimae ®:

D.roraimae alone:

D.roraimae with fungi on the old columns of dead leaves:

A D.roraimae with scape:

A closeup of the flower of D.roraimae :

While leaving this site, in barely humid sandy soil at the edges of the seepage, I found a form of U.amethystina which has tiny white flowers and is very common in Brazil. Back in Sta.Elena, I checked out of the hotel and headed back towards the Brazilian border. I tried taking a detour to explore a road that goes west past the airport, but was once again stopped at a military checkpoint. There are wide grassy areas near the border (which do not really look natural), where Andreas F. found numerous Utrics as well as D.cayennensis – a species I’d never seen on the Gran Sabana. I thought it was possibly too early in the wet season to see this species, but I was wrong.

Although I didn’t find any D.cayennensis in the spot Andreas saw them, I did find plenty right along the road very close to the Venezuelan customs, at 920m altitude. I spotted a grassy patch that looked different from the rest. I don’t know how to put it into words, but I can usually recognize the kinds of grasses CPs like to grow with. And this was one of those spots. There were several D.cayennensis in full flower – a rare sight! The petals are nearly white when open and pinkish-lilac when closed, with only 1-3 flowers on very short scapes not far above flat rosettes of wine-red leaves. A few white hairs were present on the scapes.

A flowering D.cayennensis :

In one corner of this site there were lots of flowerless D.communis too, which was a surprise in such relatively dry soil (it usually likes things very wet). And for the first time ever, I believe, I found D.cayennensis and D.communis growing side-by-side. I wonder what the D.communis will look like at this site during the dry season, when D.cayennensis loses its rosettes and hibernates as roots?

Here’s D.cayennensis (L) and D.communis ®:

D.communis in relatively dry soil, growing with a lycopodium which is a great bioindicator of CP habitats (mentioned below):

Not far across the border, I found more D.communis in a similar habitat at 665m altitude. Still further down the road, there are many grassy seepages with buriti palms (buriti is the Brazilian word for what the Venezuelans call moriche). Although the grass in this area is not exactly the kind CPs like, I did see some CPs – including one exceptionally interesting discovery!! First I found the aquatic U.cucullata in shallow water among grasses in a boggy area. But it was too early for flowers.

This is the area where I found U.cucullata and the species described below:

Hiking upstream between two hills at 375m altitude, I found what I was looking for: a seepage oozing water over the stream banks. These are always hotspots for CPs! In cracks on wet rocks on the streamside I spotted the tiny U.pusilla with yellow flowers and scapes covered in sticky transparent goo. Among grasses in wet soil just above the stream I found U.hispida with beautiful pink flowers. I don’t remember ever having seen such a shade of pink in this polymorphic species (which is usually white, yellowish, or purplish).

The pink U.hispida :

Also among the grasses and growing right to the edge of the rocks I saw small rosettes with thick leaves. Both the leaves and young scapes were thickly covered with a clear gelatinous mucilage. At first I thought it could only be U.schultesii, which would be the first collection of this species for Brazil. A few years ago I found similar rosettes growing with D.sessilifolia and D.cayennensis, at 200m altitude at the base of highlands in the southern Llanos of central Venezuela.

Here's a shot taken over 3 years ago of the Utric (L), D.cayennensis © and D.sessilifolia ®:

At the time I assumed these rosettes belonged to U.schultesii simply because this was the only Utric with small rosettes known from this region (although the mucilage was not described for it). But without flowers, I wasn’t able to confirm if it was really U.schultesii. Well here they were again, the small mucilage-covered rosettes on the Brazilian side of the border. Only this time I did find a few flowers, but they were not purplish as U.schultesii should be. They were small and a creamy yellow in color… It was U.huntii!!

In Peter Taylor’s Utric monograph, U.huntii is said to be known from only 5 collections in Mato Grosso state, central Brazil. Nearly 10 years ago I found U.huntii in Goiás state, around 300km further to the East. This new location in Roraima state extends the range of U.huntii around 2500km to the NW, across the Amazon Basin! Not to mention the rosettes I thought belonged to U.schultesii, found previously in Venezuela, which (if truly belonging to U.huntii) would extend the range a further 600km to the NW. What a disjunct distribution!

Here’s a view of the U.huntii rosettes in situ:

In this pic you can clearly see the gelatinous mucilage covering the leaves and base of the scapes:

And this is a shot of the flower. They were identical to those I saw years ago in Goiás, only a little yellower:

Further south, where the road ended the descent the Gran Sabana foothills, I came to a fork. A dirt road led to the east and I decided to explore it. Drunk with the views, I ended up driving around 65km east and 35km north. The road initially went parallel to the foothills of the Gran Sabana. For some reason that I don’t understand, the lowlands of northern Roraima state are covered with savannas while these foothills and even much of the Gran Sabana are covered in thicker vegetation, rainforest even. Usually it’s the opposite! In fact the savannas of Roraima state are in large part flooded during the wet season, reminding me very much of the Pantanal in central western Brazil. I even saw many of the same aquatic birds in the flooded grasslands, like the “tuiuiu”.

Here’s a shot of a “tuiuiu” (or “jabiru”) in the wetland savannas. Notice how the foothills of the Gran Sabana in the background are more heavily forested:

Similar to other savanna areas in Brazil, these in Roraima also had large termite mounds. But I saw termite mounds like none I had ever seen in S.America, resembling Christmas trees. Most were built around the trunks of short trees and they were only found along a short stretch of the road.

A “Christmas tree” termite mound:

The road I was on eventually leads to a town called Uiramutã, right on the border with Guyana. I’ve seen collections of D.roraimae and D.intermedia from Uiramutã, but unfortunately it was too far away. I had to catch a flight out of B.Vista the next day. Well, it wasn’t a matter of distance, but the fact that the dirt road I was on was not so good and the going was very slow. And I didn’t even know if it was possible to buy fuel at Uiramutã. Most likely not. So I drove into the Gran Sabana foothills along a beautiful valley for as long as fuel would allow me to make it back to civilization.

Slabs of sandstone jutted out of the ground at some places along this valley:

Although there were plenty of streams in open vegetation along that road, the whole area just wasn’t good for CPs. The soil was wrong and the grasses were wrong, I don’t know how to describe it. Those highlands of northern Roraima state are in part sandstone, but there are also darker rocks, possibly granite (my knowledge of geology is very poor unfortunately). The fact is that all this erosion litter from the Gran Sabana is somehow not very good for CPs. Although I drove nearly 200km on that road, both on the highlands as well as lowlands around its base, I didn’t find a single CP, not even U.subulata.

Back on the asphalt, I headed towards Boa Vista, where I spent the night. But I had time to explore a bit more before sunset. It was curious to observe how I had to distance myself over 50km from the Gran Saban foothills before the grasses and soil changed and I finally found CPs again. In a sandy area next to the road, I saw many young D.sessilifolia .

Young D.sessilifolia growing in sand:

I was up again at sunrise on Sunday. I had to catch a flight at 2pm and thus only had the morning to explore. Unfortunately it was raining hard as I drove north towards Venezuela again. I stopped at a site ~100km from Boa Vista: the site where I’d originally found D.biflora, as well as D.sessilifolia and U.simulans. Would I find the tiny rosettes of D.biflora ? Or would I find larger D.capillaris/ esmeraldae, proving that D.biflora represented stunted plants collected in the dry season? With the heavy rains, the soil was covered by a layer of water reflecting light, making it very difficult to search for small red rosettes. I did see the yellowish rosettes of very young D.sessilifolia, but nothing else. Was it just too early in the wet season?

I turned around and began heading slowly back to B.Vista, stopping along the way to explore. Fortunately the rain soon diminished to a drizzle. I hit the jackpot at the first site I stopped at. It was one of many buriti palm stands, but the grasses around it were just… perfect!

This is the habitat:

As I began walking around the sparse grasses, I found a spot with ground-hugging lycopodium – a great bioindicator of CP habitats (see picture of D.communis above, near the Brazil/ Venezuela border). And there I spotted deep red rosettes of D.cayennensis with young scapes covered with sparse white hairs. This species loves hot lowland savannas, so it was not a surprise to see it there. …

Here’s D.cayennensis . Because of the rains, the rosettes were under a film of water, as were those of the 2 other Drosera species I found here:

A few meters away, something must’ve been different in the soil because D.cayennensis disappeared, while D.sessilifolia and D.capillaris/ esmeraldae/ biflora appeared. The latter had short scapes with closed light-pink flowers resembling very much the D.capillaris found in southern Brazil. None of the D.sessilifolia had signs of flower scapes.

Here’s D.capillaris/ esmeraldae/ biflora. These could well be shots of D.capillaris in southern Brazil:

Further down the road at a very similar habitat I found more D.cayennensis and D.sessilifolia, only this time the former had mature scapes and the flowers would’ve been open if it weren’t for the lousy weather.

So what to make of the D.capillaris/ esmeraldae/ biflora mess? I am convinced that the plants I found years ago and called D.biflora were nothing more than D.capillaris or D.esmeraldae stunted by the dry season. Finding those larger plants in the lowlands and next to the waterfall pretty much “kills” D.biflora in my mind, placing it as a synonym of D.esmeraldae – which also has foveolate seeds. But I am still not convinced that D.esmeraldae itself can be kept separate from D.capillaris, even with the different seed shape.

And that wraps up yet another CP trip. It was good to finally explore the state of Roraima, but I would’ve much preferred to have spent my time exploring the northern Gran Sabana....

Enjoy,

Fernando Rivadavia

[oliv-666]

To much beautifull photos !!!! (wav:

You make me cry...

Do you remember the U. hispida and U. adpressa's grow substrat ?

[Iggy]

Spectacular trip!!

Thanks for those fantastic pictures.

Iggy

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Do you remember the U. hispida and U. adpressa's grow substrat ?

Read below (and see above for more details)...

The soil at this seepage was pure organic matter and was either very boggy or else boggy with a drier thin crust on top, which would usually give way under my feet.

Take Care,

Fernando Rivadavia

[Howard Snocken]

Fantastic as always Fernando! Thank you.

Growing on the old columns of dead leaves of D.roraimae is a lichen

- I think a Cladonia sp.

[Guest Aidan]

Fernando - It may not have been your intended destination, but you have outdone yourself this time. My dial-up is smouldering under the strain!

[-=Joel=-]

Great set of pictures

[Jonathan]

Every time you post, I turn a deeper shade of green. I spent several months in the nearby state of Guainia in Colombia when I was at university - similar formations to the tepuis, although on a much smaller scale. Unfortunately, it was several years before I got back into carnivorous plants... I bet there are some interesting potential finds there. Fantastic photos!

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Oh Jonathan, you didn't!!! Looking at the map (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/co...ia_rel_2001.jpg), that must be one hell of a great place to explore for CPs!!

Too bad...

Fernando Rivadavia

[Jonathan]

I know, I'm a bad person :-). I was right on the little 'hump' on the Brazilian border in the Serrania de Naquen studying white-sand forest birds. Very interesting but I regret not spending more time on CPs now! The 'soils' are extremely nutrient poor and must hold some surprises.

That was in 92, and no-one has been back since to look at birds even so I guess the flora must be very poorly known. I've just written a paper on several new birds for Colombia there - only taken me 15 years

[oliv-666]

Do you remember the U. hispida and U. adpressa's grow substrat ?

Read below (and see above for more details)...

The soil at this seepage was pure organic matter and was either very boggy or else boggy with a drier thin crust on top, which would usually give way under my feet.

Take Care,

Fernando Rivadavia

Thanks Fernando. I didn't see it was for the U. too

[Frank]

Breath-taking trip report and pictures!

Thanks a lot for sharing! :)

Frank

[vraev]

beautiful pictures. I love that waterfall area. Man! that algae looks as if its glowing. Is it really that big??

[Paulo Minatel]

Caramba, Fernando!

I know it's quite a "clichê" but there's no other words I can say (or write): Astonishing, Fantastic, Outstanding!!!

What a pity you coldn't visit the tepuis and bring us more incredible pics!

The finding of U. huntii so distant from were it was known before is fantastic! As you said, what a disjunct distribution!

Loved the pics of D. roraimae and B. reducta!

Thanks for share!

Abraço,

Paulo

[Carlos Rohrbacher]

Very, very, very beautiful!!!!

these places are incredible.

I still go to know these habitats of Brocchinia reducta and Drosera biflora.

Were to think "com meus botões" you would have to crate a new site with links for all these your expeditions, do not find?

Good week my friend.

Carlos.

[blt00123]

FANTASTICS pics!!!

every time I see you reports, you make me wonder to take a trip to your country!!!

thanks for sharing!!!

ciao

AndreaS

[Melly]

Fernando u are a monster!!!!

( a good monter eheheheh)

the 2nd pic is marvellous!

kiss by Melly

[diva]

thank you, stunning photo's of stunning plants in stunning locations, superb

[Phil Green]

Great pic.

But I haven't yet read the report, as one pic is very wide, so all text disappears of the screen

Could you please reduce the width of this pic -

"Here's a shot taken over 3 years ago of the Utric (L), D.cayennensis © and D.sessilifolia ®: "

Please :)

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Hello everyone!

I'm glad you're enjoying the pics! I can assure you I enjoyed it all even more, hehehe! :) It's just really great to see wild CPs!

Phil, I've just reduced the picture, enjoy! :)

Howard, thanks for the info that it was a LICHEN and not a fungus!!

To my brazilian friends, I am presently discussing an update our webpage with my webpage colleagues... Abraços aos brazucas de plantão!! ;)

Ciao Melly (the best avatar EVER!! :) ), you mean the D.capillaris & U.subulata picture? I especially like the early morning tepuy shots and the one showing the vertical slabs of sandstone.

Man! that algae looks as if its glowing. Is it really that big??

Sorry, I don't know your name, but here's another pic. It was a really cool spot!

Best Wishes,

Fernando Rivadavia

[Jonathan]

That last picture is beautifully composed and begging for a frame.

[Melly]

Fernando smuackkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

but you would not have also photos of dionaea in nature?

[Khelljuhg]

Fantastic photos!

[Tranchette]

Very Nice photos!!!!!!!!!!

[Phil Green]

Fantastic field report. I do envy you the visit.

Only some Heli's could have improved it.

Thanks for shareing.