Hello everyone,

In May 2009 I was in Brazil for work. I had to be in Belo Horizonte so I took the opportunity to spend a weekend at the nearby Serra do Cipó. This is one of my favorite hiking places in the country and probably the biggest CP hot-spot as well. Although it's probably the best botanized area in Brazil, we are still being surprised with new CP species, as you'll see in this post.

I met up with 2 CPer-biologist colleagues Nilber Silva & Paulo Gonella and I also invited along a friend from the US, Todd Michael, who is working on sequencing the Genlisea genome and was in Brazil for some conferences. He wanted to see wild Genlisea for the 1st time.

On the 1st day we hung around a corner of the mountains called Serra Morena. It's NW from where I usually hike and I'd never really gotten around to exploring this area. So it was mostly new territory.We finished off visiting a famous hot-spot nearly on the opposite side of the mountains, driving maybe 15-20km E from the Serra Morena.

That day we saw D.chrysolepis, D.montana, D.tomentosa, D.communis, D.tentaculata, D.hirtella var.hirtella, D.sp."Cipó" , D.sp."Shibata" (which we discovered is much more common than we'd believed), G.filiformis, G.repens, G.aurea, G.violacea, G.sp."Cipó", U.gibba, U.amethystina (large purple and small white forms), U.subulata, U.laciniata, U.nana, U.trichophylla (including a white form), U.olivacea, and maybe more Utrics that I can't remember now. Both U.trichophylla and U.olivacea had never been recorded for the Serra do Cipó.

I am posting below some of my pics, but you can see a lot more pics from this trip (including many other CPs, non-CPs and the rare parasite Langsdorffia hypogea) taken by Paulo & Nilber (pics on all 4 pages, but sorry it's in Portuguese!):

http://www.forum.clickgratis.com.br/planta...p;postorder=asc

Anyway, here are some of my pics from the 1st day. Paulo, Nilber e Todd looking for CPs:




D.chrysolepis growing from an older dry stem:


D.hirtella var.hirtella:






D.sp.Cipó:


Paulo, Nilber & Todd sitting next to a population of D.sp.Shibata:


Paulo, Todd & Nilber looking for CPs:


Paulo & Nilber at another D.sp.Shibata population:


Beautiful D.sp.Shibata!


D.sp.Shibata forming short stems:


D.chrysolepis over rocks next to a stream:


D.montana (or was it D.tomentosa?) & U.amethystina growing on rocks next to a waterfall:






D.communis & G.repens in a boggy area next to a river:

On the 2nd day we took a trail to a place called Travessão, where none of us had ever been to before. It's a very interesting place where 2 valleys meet and nearly cut the Serra do Cipó in 2. It's like someone tried to saw the Serra do Cipó from the E & W, but never finished the job.

Beginning of the trail, Paulo, Nilber & Todd looking for new populations of the rare D.sp.Cipó (no luck):


Nilber & Paulo at one of the 4 known populations of D.sp.Cipó. Notice the clouds "cascading" over the mountains in the background. This is a common phenomenon in mountains I've hiked in Brazil and is a precious source of water during the dry season to many CP species & populations. It's fascinating to watch, like a waterfall in slow motion! I often see it here near San Francisco in the afternoon, with clouds coming over the mountains from the ocean.


Ancient rock paintings on the way to Travessão. Deer and maybe an anteater?




Arriving at theTravessão:


Travessão looking west:


Travessão looking east (and me!):


A small frog imitating lichens on the rocks:


The most interesting population of D.sp.Cipó is in an area of white quartz gravel where in close proximity you also find D.chrysolepis, D.tentaculata, D.sp.Shibata and a recent discovery that Paulo made of what seems to be a hybrid between D.chrysolepis & D.sp.Cipó!

D.tentaculata (notice the huge apical tentacles):




D.sp.Shibata, commonly forming clonal groups:




D.chrysolepis were in flower:




D.sp.Cipó (notice short stem and dead flower scape in 1st pic):






D.chrysolepis X D.sp.Cipó (notice longer leaves and distinct petioles, relative to D.sp.Cipó):

And at last, the great discovery of the trip! A fellow CPer, Igor Lins, a teenager on his 1st trip to the Serra do Cipó early last year discovered 2 Utrics which had never been recorded for these mountains: U.reniformis & U.nephrophylla (see full story w/ pics here: http://www.forum.clickgratis.com.br/planta...or/t-3585.html).

We were very keen on finding these 2 Utrics and we knew we had to search in shady waterfalls, which seemed to be their ideal habitat on these mountains. Well, it turned out that a small misfortune accidentally led us straight to the pot of gold! On our way to the Travessão we lost the trail and were forced to go down this incredibly steep inclince:


With our asses black from the slipping down the mud wall, we arrived at the base of this hill where there was a shady waterfall:


Ask Paulo e Nilber what we found on the wet rocks around the waterfall & stream???


A whole bunch of U.nephrophylla in flower!!






Unfortunately there wasn't much U.reniformis -- and only leaves, no flowers. Sorry, but I didn't even take pics. I don't know why, but this small-leaved U.reniformis which grows along shady waterfalls/ streams in the greater Cadeia do Espinhaço highlands (including Cipó, Caraça, Diamantina, etc.) never seems to flower!!

On our way back to the car, just before sunset, we stopped by a favorite hot-spot where numerous CPs grow in a boggy hillside seepage.

G.aurea:


Huge D.tomentosa var.tomentosa:


And beautiful D.camporupestris capturing the setting sun on its mucilage:





And this is the end of my account of this fantastic weekend at the Serra do Cipó, where we had great weather, beautiful plants, great discoveries (4 new Utrics!), and excellent friends! Don't forget to check out Paulo's & Nilber's pics at:

http://www.forum.clickgratis.com.br/planta...p;postorder=asc



Best wishes,
Fernando Rivadavia

Marvelous photos Fernando, many thanks for them.
I wish i would have a chance to see this country in the future...

Many thanks for sharing!

Awesome photos!! So beautiful that doesn't seems real...
Wonderful country!

Always fab to read of your adventures, Fernando, thanks for posting!!

Great findings, pictures and report Fernando.
Thanks for sharing.

Of course, now that I finished reading it, I am following your link to Paulo's & Nilber's pics.

Regards!

Thanks for the wonderfull report Fernando. The D.sp.Shibata is simply amazing ! Nothing can beat the beauty of plants in their natural habitat ;-)

Thanks everyone, I'm glad you're enjoying it! :)



I totally agree -- which is one of the main reasons why I stopped cultivating CPs years ago: I could never get them to look as beautiful as they looked in nature! :)


All the best,
Fernando

A very wonderfull place. I really like the species growing there.
So what is your opinion about Drosera sp. Cipo? It is sometimes called Drosera sp. chrysolosa, an hybrid between Drosera chrysolepis and Drosera villosa. Quite strange for an hybrid to be fertile and to cross with Drosera chrysolepis though. Do you notice seeds on the old flower scapes you saw? So it would be an hybridogen real species. But Paulo told me he didn't know anybody that manage to germinate any seeds of this taxon, looking like an sterile hybrid.
However, it is a really beauty.

Regards

Aymeric

Amazing photos of U. nephrophylla, and an excellent field report!

Thanks for posting.

Hi Fernando,

really amazing pictures, the landscape is also very interesting and these clouds too.
One day i must visit this region as well, it´s like in paradise.

It´s always great to see Drosera in nature, especially such species like D. tentaculata, D. spec. ´Shibata´, D. spec. Cipó which i´m not growing till now, but of course the others are also beautiful.
The hybrid (D. chrysolepis x D. sp. Cipó) looks also great. Is it really sure that it´s an hybrid? Have you collected any seed that has not germinated after sowing out?

In the Carnivorous plant newsletter i´ve read your article about the natural hybrid D. x fontinalis (D. grantsaui x D. tomentosa), congratulation for these results.
There you have mentioned that seed from these plants has not germinated in cultivation.
So, is none of the hybrids you have seen in nature able to reproduce through seed?

Many thanks for sharing these pictures, the pictures from Nilber and Paulo i´ve already seen in the brazilian forum longer time ago.

Best regards,

Dani

Aaaarrgh!!!

PLEASE forget/delete this name "chrysolosa" from your heads! I think maybe Sundew Matt coined this unfortunate name up a few years ago based on what he thought it looked like. I curse the day this name was invented, hahaha!

First of all, neither D.villosa nor D.ascendens are known to grow in the Serra do Cipó. Therefore, D.sp. "Cipó" CAN NOT be a hybrid between D.chrysolepis & D.villosa.

When I first discovered D.sp.Cipó in 1996/7 I initially thought it was a hybrid between D.chrysolepis & D.tentaculata, which were growing nearby. But after seeing them growing in isolated populations and studying them over many years, I am convinced this is a separate species.

The fact that a few people weren't able to get a single batch of seeds to germinate is not proof of hybrid origin, hehehe. We had the same problem with D.schwackei for many years, leading me to think it was a hybrid for a long time.



We're not sure yet, but the evidence does seem to point in this direction. :) No seed yet.



Thanks!! :)



Once again, notice I mentioned that a single germination experiment did not work, hehehe. This doesn't mean the hybrid is sterile, we need more data in order to prove/disprove this hypothesis. I actually believe this one is fertile. As for othr hybrids, I have no data one way or the other yet.


Best wishes,
Fernando

Fernando,
Thanks for all the pics & narration of your adventures. It allows those less-traveled of us to experience a little bit of the adventure & awe.

How large were the 'leaves' on the small U. reniformis that you found?

Amazing report Fernando! Wow! I hope some seed and cuttings were sent to a few compotent growers to keep these plants in cultivation! Perhaps we all can get a chance at growing these gems some day! - Rich

Hmm, don't remember exact sizes, but I'd say petioles probably shorter than 3cm and lamina maybe1-4cm across.

Rich: Most of those species are in cultivation already, and the ones that aren't didn't have seeds.


Best Wishes,
Fernando

Well, FERN ... You-Certainly: "Jumped-The-Shark" with This-Post.

Before and with Graminifolia & Mockery Aside I-Was Under The-Impression that South-America Was-R: "Land-of-SPATHS", so-to-Speak with Variation-upon-Variation of The Same Ho-Hum.

Not-Soo 'Apparently' ... Well-DONE!!!

****
By-the-Way Anything Growing-in-Those Bleached-WHITE-Sands with Dark-RED-to-Purplelish-Foliage 'Try'-R-Little ZINC if-You're Having-trouble with Germination. ZINC is ~ 12-Times More-Soluble than Sodium-chloride & Most other Transition-Salts and is Osmotically 'Driven' Into-The-Intertices of The Sand-Grains Under Acid-Conditions.

You were certainly wrong Richard ;-)

I too have been amazed by the diversity of south American Drosera.
The undescribed species are very attractive (so are the described ones) and I look forward to learn more about them in the future.

Thank you very much for this post, Fernando!


Cheers,

François.

It's-GOOD-to-Be-Wrong ... for Failure-Is-MANDATORY if-One Wants-to-Learn-Something: "NEW".

Who-Would-have 'Thought' that Rock-Solid QUARTZITE was-Actually 'Quite'-Porous!!!??? >(*~*)< / >(*U^)<

In-Hindsight, with-its Near Order-of-Magnitude Difference-in-Solubility, it-Seems Quite-Obvious that ZINC Would-be The-Ideal-Candidate for-R-Second Symbiont-Organism in-Association with Generica-australis ... with-its Secondary-Need for GREEN Copper-I it Also Fits-in-Well with-Other Areas of Mycorrhizal-Research to-Date such-as VAM and Leg-Haemoglobin of The-Legumes, Per-se. When-One Thinks-of Quarzite's Honeycomb-Nature in-Comparison to-R Semipermeable-MATRIX Then-You Realise that-ZINC is-Litreally 'Forced'-through The-Intertices of The-Wet-Sand just-by Osmolarity, alone!!!

This-Unique Status of-Solubility ... Even-'Holds' at LOW-pH ... something that Doesn't-'Hold' for Sodium-Chloride. so-Basically ZINC-Accumulates and Sodium is Somewhat 'Excluded' Within The-Confines of The-COASTAL-Plain!!! >(*U^)<

****
I-Think The-Problem with The South-American-Drosera Is-that There Has Been No-Basic COFFEE-Table-Book Featuring-Them with-R Nice Central-Spread Defining Their-Lines & Unique-Features.

Perhaps FERN-&-STEW Can Work-on R-Coauthorship in-This-Area!!!??? >(*U^)<

Hi Fernando,

many thanks for the report!! Another place i must visit sometime....


Christian

This is one of the greatest fieldtrips I've ever seen!! Thank you for sharing Fernando!!

Gian

Oh, new pictures from Cipó, I loved this place!!!

Ah, this U. nephrophylla flower is blue?

Regards.

And i thought I was the colorblind one here, hahaha! :)

Maybe purplish, but not blue.

Fernando

Fernando, purplish don' exist, it's a invention to complicate the world

My plants, from RJ is a little different, I seem less colorful.



Can anyone help two colorblind?

Carlos, the plants from Rio are unusual in being white. All the others I've seen were purplish or pinkish.

Fernando

I need other colours now.

Thanks Fernando.