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Nice pics!! It looks like G.flexuosa to me. But see the thread in the link below for more info: http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=44386 If you're interested in a copy of the paper describing G.flexuosa, shoot me a private message with your email address. Best wishes, Fernando P.S. I'll try to copy/paste a key from this paper to help you ID your plant: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A key to the species of Genlisea subgenus Tayloria 0. Capsule opening with bivalvate dehiscence, corolla lilac, lavender or white, spur divergent from corolla lower lip .. ............................................................................................................................................................... —> § Tayloria - Capsule opening with circumscissile dehiscence, corolla yellow, lilac, bluish or white, with gibbous palate near throat, spur paralleling the lower lip ....................................................................................................—> § Genlisea] 1. Scape thick (more than 1 mm in diam. above the middle in dried specimens), succulent. Upper lip of the corolla longer than (equalling) 5 mm............................................................................................................................................ 2 - Scape thin (less than or equalling 1 mm in diam. in dried specimens, but base sometimes to 1.5 mm wide), often filiform. Upper lip of the corolla shorter than 5 mm........................................................................................................ 4 2. Scapes with a dense indumentum of glandular capitate hairs only. Leaves many, present in flowering plants, arranged in a dense rosette. Fruiting pedicels recurved (apical part of the fruiting pedicel straight, paralleling the scape). Upper lip of the corolla deeply bilobate, subequal to lower lip. Spur equalling (slightly longer than) the corolla upper lip. Corolla deep violet. [Minas Gerais only] ........................................................................G. metallica - Scapes with a dense indumentum of both eglandular simple hairs and glandular hairs. Leaves few, not present in flowering plants (or only single leaves arranged near the base of the scape). Fruiting pedicels circinate (apical part of the fruiting pedicels strongly curved inwards, not paralleling the scape). Upper lip of the corolla entire or upper third bilobate, shorter than the lower lip. Spur distinctly longer than the upper corolla lip. Corolla pale lilac to lavender .. .................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 3. Upper lip entire. Spur longer than lower corolla lip, with apex uncinate (rarely apex straight in single flowers). Pedicel shorter than (equalling) the spur, to 8.5 mm long, strongly circinate in fruit. Corolla without darker venation. Seed papillate (magnifier!). [bahia only] . ...................................................................................................G. uncinata - Upper lip bilobate (rarely single flowers of a scape with lobes of the upper lip fused). Spur shorter than (equalling) lower corolla lip, with apex straight. Pedicel distinctly longer than the spur, to 10 mm long, laxly circinate in fruit. Corolla with dark purple veins. Seed not papillate, margins winged (magnifier!). [Minas Gerais only] ...................... ................................................................................................................................................................ G. oligophylla 4. Spur about 1.5–2.0 times longer than the upper corolla lip, or spur more than 5 mm long ......................................... 5 - Spur shorter than (equalling, or just slightly exceeding) the upper corolla lip, or spur shorter than (equalling) 5 mm. ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 5. Flowering scapes usually longer than (equalling) 25 cm ............................................................................................. 6 - Flowering scapes shorter than 25 cm........................................................................................................................... 7 6. Upper corolla lip much shorter than lower lip (lower lip from tip to base 3–4 times longer than upper lip). Fruiting pedicels recurved but older ones turned upwards from the middle. Scapes with indumentum of glandular capitate and shorter eglandular simple hairs. Leaves 10–40 mm × (3–)8–19 mm, sometimes with sparse cover of microscopic glandular hairs. Plants of perennially wet swamps. [northern Minas Gerais only] ..................................... G. flexuosa - Upper corolla lip subequal to (slightly shorter than) lower lip (lower lip from tip to base 2.0–2.5 times longer than upper lip). Fruiting pedicels recurved and pointing downwards (rarely gradually arcuated more than 360° and then pointing upwards). Scapes with indumentum of glandular capitate hairs and equally long eglandular simple hairs, or exclusively glandular capitate hairs. Leaves (1.5–)3.0–12.0 mm × (0.5–)1.5–7.0 mm, always glabrous. Annual plants of periodically wet areas. [Minas Gerais, São Paulo] .......................................................................G. violacea 7. Corolla white (pale lilac), spur dark purple. Corolla lobes conspicuously emarginate. Fruiting pedicels sharply reflexed (bent downwards abruptly) from the base. Spur narrowly conical, never widened towards the apex. Scapes with sparse indumentum of eglandular simple hairs and fewer glandular hairs. [Espírito Santo and eastern Minas Gerais] ............................................................................................................................................................ G. lobata - Corolla and spur of the same colour, pale lilac to dark violet, rarely white. Corolla lobes entire, or shallowly retuse. Fruiting pedicels recurved (curved downwards arcuated (arching) from the base). Spur saccate, narrowly conical or tubular, narrowed or widened towards the apex. Scapes with dense indumentum of eglandular simple hairs and glandular capitate hairs, with dense indumentum of glandular capitate hairs only, or with sparse indumentum of exclusively glandular capitate hairs. [Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Bahia] .............................................................................. 8 8. Corolla length shorter than 7 mm. Sepals and bracts subglabrous. Scapes with sparse indumentum of glandular capitate hairs only. [Minas Gerais only]..........................................................................................................G. nebulicola - Corolla length longer than (equalling) 7 mm. Sepals and bracts with glandular capitate hairs (and usually also eglandular simple hairs). Scapes covered with glandular hairs only, or both glandular capitate hairs and eglandular hairs . .................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 9. Corolla lower lip 6–8 mm wide. Corolla with open throat, without gibbous marking at the base of the palate (but small greenish-yellow area). Corolla upper lip 2.0–2.5 mm long. Spur 2.0–3.0(–4.0) mm long, saccate or shortly conical. [bahia only] .......................................................................................................................... G. exhibitionista - Corolla lower lip (6.5–)10.0–15.0 mm wide. Corolla with pronounced gibbous marking consisting of two yellow rims at the base of the palate. Corolla upper lip 3.0–5.0 mm long. Spur (2.3–)3.0–5.0(–6.0) mm long, cylindrical, usually widened towards the apex. [Minas Gerais, São Paulo] .................................................................. G. violacea

Here are some microscope shots of my Genlisea... I find it hard to take these pictures because the outer cells have air pockets that reflect a lot of the light. It's like trying to take a picture through bubblewrap. Subterranean leaf. A stalk gland seems to seal the trap above and below the opening. A view of the stalk gland. External stalk gland. I always see a lot of stuff stuck to them. Another group of stalk glands. The tube between the leaf and the bulb of the plant. Typical Genlisea prey in the bulb.

Hello Abacus, Very nice microscope photographs! You can get over the reflection of air-bubbles in the outer epidermis of the leaf, if you either fix your fresh traps in alcohol for a few hours (and then make the slide using alcohol not water), or if you use fresh material in lactic acid, not water. The sencond photo that you labelled "stalked gland" shows almost every anatomical feature of the apical part of a Genlisea trap. You can see the short retentive hairs ("teeth"), the longer retentive hairs on the left, the red round thing in the middle is a prey item (most likely a mite), and these bivalvate organs ("coffea beans") are internal bifid trap glands, which create a shallow water flow inside the trap. And the spiral line that crosses the picture in the upper part is a xylem vessel. The "stalked glands" you observed below and above the opening are what can be termed "spacer cells". On the 5th and 6th photo, you can see the digestive glands (quadrifid glands), and the latter photo also shows maybe the most common prey of cultivated Genlisea: soil inhabiting mites. Especially in species with larger traps, I found soil mites to be almost the soil prey item. But interestingly, mites make only a tiny percentage of the prey spectrum of traps in the wild. All the best, Andreas

Mine has self-seeded into other utric pots nearby in the greenhouse. I only just noticed this as the first genlisea flower spikes are now opening in a pot of U. dichotoma. It doesn't need much heat. Winter min has been 2-3C for the last few years and it flowers like a trooper.

Hola Sebas! This phenomenon you observed with Genlisea is probably similar to that known from several cliff-hanging Pinguicula species, but I believe this similarity is only physiological and not ecological. While some Pinguicula will bend their scapes backwards in order to place their seed capsules close to the walls they cling to (thus avoiding that most seeds fall on the ground below), in species of the G.violacea group (section Tayloria) the pedicels (the "stem" that holds up the flower, branching from the main flower scape) are the ones that bend. G.violacea, G.lobata, etc. will bend their pedicels once the flower is pollinated. Depending on the length of the pedicel, it may even twirl around the scape. One by one as the flowers are pollinated, they drop the corolla, bend downwards, and begin forming fruit. In fact I always used this as a sure sign of successful pollinization with my plants back when I used to cultivate CPs 10 years ago. The 1st (lowermost) flower to open whenever my plants bloomed would always remain with an erect pedicel because there were no other flowers to cross-pollinate it with. No bending downwards of the pedicels meant no fruit and thus no seeds. Although I've known of this phenomenon in Genlisea of section Tayloria for nearly 15 years, I have not yet found a good ecological explanation for it. It could be that the explanation is the same as for Pinguicula, although not all species in section Tayloria grow on cliffs. G.violacea and G.lobata only occasionally do so. There is a small new species from Bahia in NE Brazil, which I have only seen at 2 locations, both on cliffs, so it could be that this species is in fact restricted to this habitat. Since there are numerous flowers per scape on Genlisea while Pinguicula only have one per scape, the whole scape on Genlisea can not bend backwards while other flowers are still in need of pollinization. So maybe bending the pedicel brings the fruit at least a little closer to the wall. But this characteristic would not be maintained throughout the species in this section if it was only an advantage for 3 of them and even then only on rare occasions (when they do occur on cliffs). So whatever the reason, it must be important to have been preserved, even in G.uncinata, G.sp."Cipo", and G.sp."Itacambira beauty" which have terribly short pedicels. Check the Genlisea picks on my webpage (http://www.mcef.ep.usp.br/carnivoras/). There are 2 pics of G.sp."Cipo" where you can see the erect pedicel with flower and a bent one in fruit (see links below). http://www.mcef.ep.usp.br/carnivoras/Photo..._02_1997__2.jpg http://www.mcef.ep.usp.br/carnivoras/Photo..._02_1997__3.jpg There is also one of G.lobata with a flower on an erect pedicel and a bent on in fruit in teh background: http://www.mcef.ep.usp.br/carnivoras/Photo..._02_1996__2.jpg Then there's a really good one of G.violacea with several flowers on erect scapes, fruit on bents scapes, and even an erect pedicel without flower or fruit located low down on one scape (this was the 1st flower and was not pollinated): http://www.mcef.ep.usp.br/carnivoras/Photo...FRL_02_1992.jpg Take Care, Fernando Rivadavia

To all, It is very difficult to keep any such information constantly updates with all the recent literature and collections. For example G.filiformis was recently collected in S Mexico, extending the range of this species (and genus!) into N America. So it is very difficult to have such a site 100% correct and one must often consult various pages, such as the CP Database put up by Jan Schaluer, which is also very comprehensive. Congrats Matthias and all! Fernando Rivadavia

Here's the article (I'm not sure if it's teh final version though...) ----------------------------------------- Genlisea aurea St.Hil. Genlisea aurea St.Hil. (Lentibulariaceae) was discovered and described by the French botanist Auguste de Saint Hilaire in the early 19th century (St.Hil., 1833). This species is endemic to Brazil, where it is widespread on sandstone highlands from the states of Mato Grosso in the west to Bahia in the northeast to Santa Catarina in the southeast (Fromm-Trinta, 1979). This Genlisea species is a perennial herb typically found at altitudes varying from 550m to 2550m, growing in black humus-rich soil often mixed with sand among grasses in water-logged seepages which usually remain boggy even during the dry season. The compact rosettes are usually covered by a film of cold flowing water and I have even observed specimens growing beneath several centimenters of water in streams. Genlisea aurea is one of the largest species in the genus Genlisea (Taylor, 1991) and it has unique rosettes made up of dozens of almost linear leaves only about 2mm wide. Although the leaves are usually 5-50mm long, the rosettes are at maximum around 5cm in diameter because only the leaf tips are visible at soil level. The long white petioles are buried underground, arising from a beige stem up to about a centimeter thick and two or three centimeters long. Genlisea aurea can be found in flower year round, nonetheless it is not so easy to catch flowering specimens in the wild. This is rather strange, considering it is not at all a rare species and large populations are often common. Nevertheless, on a few occasions I have been blessed with the view of grassy fields covered with G.aurea’s large bright-yellow to golden-yellow blooms. What a view! The flower scapes of G.aurea are very robust and densely covered in both simple and glandular hairs, usually 10-30cm in height, but sometimes surpassing 40cm. Each inflorescence commonlly bears one to three open flowers at its apex, but may produce a total of eleven flowers (Fromm-Trinta, 1979). At the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (in northern Goiás state, central Brazil) grow the largest-flowered G.aurea I know, probably with the largest flowers in the genus Genlisea, measuring nearly 3cm in length and over 2cm in width. The flowers of this large form are a spectacularly rich golden-yellow in color and the lower lip is a wide apron – instead of more deeply trilobed as in other locations. The inverted ‘Y’-shaped passive traps of Genlisea apparently come in two types in most species. As drawn by Studnicka (1996), some traps are short and grow more or less horizontally beneath the soil surface, while others are longer and grow straight downwards. Unfortunately these traps are extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible, to collect whole in nature. They are very brittle and break exasperatingly easily when you try to wash off the soil around the plants. Fromm-Trinta (1979) recorded traps up to around 10cm in length for G.aurea, measured from herbarium specimens, but I believe this may be highly understimated. As for prey, G.aurea, G.margaretae, and G.violaceae (and thus possibly all Genlisea?) have been recently discovered to be specialized in the capture of protozoans (Barthlott et al., 1998). Among the Brazilian species of Genlisea, G.pygmaea seems to be the most closely related species to G.aurea. Both have inflorescences densely covered in simple and glandular hairs and the smaller forms of G.aurea are often very similar in flower shape, size and color to larger forms of G.pygmaea – a fact which has often confused me in the field! Other than the overall size of the plants, there are not many characteristics that one can use to separate these two species -- unless one has a microscope handy. Some useful tips in the field are that G.pygmaea usually grows in sandier soils, has fewer, shorter, wider, darker green leaves, flower scapes are a thinner and a darker green (almost black) in color, and the flowers are smaller and narrower. Other Brazilian Genlisea species that occur south of the Amazon Basin are easily distinguishable from G.aurea. G.repens and G.filiformis both have yellow flowers, but are much smaller in size. Furthermore, G.repens is the only Genlisea species which has elongated underground stems (like most Utricularia) and the small flowers are produced on thin glabrous flower scapes. G.filiformis has even tinier flowers with an obtuse-tipped spur borne on delicate inflorescences that are more or less covered in long glandular hairs only. Finally, G.guianensis, G.violacea, G.uncinata, and G.lobata have purplish to white flowers with an orangish-yellow to whitish patch at the base of the lower lip. Furthermore, the latter three taxa have pedicels that become pendulous when in fruit (versus erect) and the seed capsules split into two longitudinal valves (versus circumscissile) (Taylor, 1991). When not in flower, G.aurea is the easiest Genlisea species to recognize in Brazil, because of its large rosettes composed by dozens of narrow leaves covered by a thick layer of gelatinous transparent mucilage -- especially in shady habitats. This mucilage is also usually present to a lesser degree in G.pygmaea. After much brainstorming, I still do not know what the function of this mucilage is. Protection against fires seem unlikely since the G.aurea habitats are usually wet year round and thus free from the threat of fires – while G.pygmaea, being an annual, is usually dead by the time the dry season fires begin. Furthermore, the small rhizome of G.aurea is always safely protected from fires by its position a few centimeters below the soil surface. All I can think of is that this mucilage serves as a mechanical or chemical barrier against predation from snails or other small invertebrates. Whenever botanizing in Brazil I always like to herborize specimens of the CPs I find. But special care is needed to herborize G.aurea since the numerous delicate leaves become tightly glued to the newspaper used for herborization while the mucilage dries, making the rosettes nearly impossible to pry off afterwards. A technique I’ve developed to minimize this problem is to, before herborizing, press and wipe the G.aurea rosettes several times against my clothes. This helps remove most of the mucilage and decreases the number of leaves which remain glued to the paper in the end. And no damage is done to your clothes either, in case you’re wondering... I have never been able to keep G.aurea in cultivation for more than a year. In fact these picky plants would usually rot soon after being brought from the wild -- if not during the long trip from its natural habitat to my hometown São Paulo. Unfortunately the seeds of this species have so far proved nearly impossible to germinate in cultivation. I have never been able to germinate any myself and have only heard of a few success reports among friends around the world. The only mature G.aurea in cultivation I know of are growing at the Bonn Botanic Garden in Germany -- which I saw during the ’98 ICPS Conference. Unfortunately they’re cultivating the most unattractive of all G.aurea: a small form with pale-yellow flowers native to the Diamantina area of Minas Gerais state. References: 1.) Barthlott, W., Porembski, S., Fischer, E., and Gemmel, B. 1998. First Protozoa-Trapping Plant Found. Nature, 392: 447. 2.) Fromm-Trinta, E. 1979. Revisão das Espécies do Gênero Genlisea St.Hil. (Lentibulariaceae) das Regiões Sudeste e Sul do Brasil. Rodriguésia, Rio de Janeiro 31/49: 17-139. 3.) Saint-Hilaire, A. de. 1833. Voyage dans le District du Diamans du Brésil 2: 428-432. 4.) Studnicka, M. 1996. Several Ecophysiological observations in Genlisea. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 25: 14-16. 5.) Taylor, P. 1991. The Genus Genlisea. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 20: 20-26.

My friend Gert from Hollland took some back with him during our trip to Venezuela in August 2003. We saw tons of this beautiful species. Hopefully he still has some alive... Take care, Fernando Rivadavia

Welcome back, Fernando. My G.violacea flowers regularly but, although I have had it for years, my G.sp."giant violacea" finally flowered for the first time this year. The scapes are a lot taller and the flowers bigger. Other Genlisea news... my G.uncinata, which I consider my most stubborn plant ever (which has remained alive at least) has just sat there for several years, usually having a single leaf and a sending up a scape which inevitably dies at around a 6" height. Well, pretty big Genlisea leaf just emerged a few inches away so I think this stubborn plant finally reproduced itself. I'm not certain, but I think I've had it for around 4 years or so... Maybe it's time to take a leaf cutting! Matt

Anyone else growing this one?

Hi Tim, At first the plant I obtained shrunk in size, but it's been a few months now and it appears to have stabilized. I think it will be fine and intend to try to propagate it shortly. If all goes well, I will try to get it into more collections in the near future. Matt