rosolis76

I do not have lot of information about Pinguicula chilensis growing in highland conditions except from what I read and saw on photographs. I tryed to find this species in 2010 in Lonquimay National Park but I failed. There is a high probability that I will go back to Chile in the next years. If so, I will try to search for the three known species of this country that is to say D.uniflora, P.chilensis and P.antartica. If I am not wrong U.gibba was also reported to be growing in Valdivia delta in southern Chile but as paper industry have been contaminating the area for several years, I do not know if it still exists... Regarding Araucaria, there are among of my favourite threes even if there are not the most beautiful one. Some specimens are really huge and many are centuries old. Some are even supposed to be over 1000 years old but of course it is quite hard to estimate. Anyway, it is a nice experience to walk in a forest where most of the tallest threes have been there before first European people discover America. Cheers, Damien

I do not have any idea about the self-fertility of this species. I am trying to do it anyway...

Hello everyone, I had the opportunity to spend the Christmas holiday in Chile. At this occasion, I visited the Natural Park Nahuelbuta in south-central Chile. It is located in the maritime Cordillera, only a few dozen kilometers far away from the Pacific Ocean. It is a mountain of low altitude (1500m) where the tree layer is dominated by Araucaria araucana: I went to this place because I knew it was possible to observe carnivorous plants. After driving 3 hours with a pickup (the park is huge), I finally came across what I wanted, Pinguicula chilensis. The following pictures give you an idea of the habitat: They grew on a small humid slope. The soil texture was quite sandy and it was covered by mosses and plants enjoying organic matter from forest litter just above the slope. This small population consisted in about 100 plants: Some were exposed to direct sunlight (first and second photo), while others grew in shady places (third photo): As you can notice, the flower scape is very short, which is characteristic of the populations of the maritime Cordillera. Individuals growing in the higher mountains of The Andes develop longer flowering scapes. Apart from Pinguicula, there was also Drosera uniflora growing in the peatland areas. Unfortunately, I began searching for them too late and was not able to find them. In this area, the Drosera grow in sphagnum unlike the plants found in Alerce Costero National Park in Southern Chile. ++ Damien

Yes, I forgot to mention that. I keep it at 15-16°C during the night and about 25-26°C during the day.

Hello, My first flower of Utricularia mannii opened this week. I am very happy to share this event with you. It grows in a square plastic pot in a mixture of dead peat moss, living peat moss and perlite( 40/40/20 ). The whole is placed in a " half- terrarium ", that is to say a large container of extruded polystyrene without glass on the top and on the front parts. I use a plastic bottle to maintain a high humidity around the pant. Since this is an epiphytic plant, substrate is just kept moist. Concerning lighting, it is quite strong as I have two compact flash bulbs providing 2x125 watt daylight (approximately 20,000 lumens). In fact, it is in the terrarium with subtropical Drosera but the pot is in a corner of the terrarium to prevent overexposure. I have no idea of ​​the level of tolerance to full sun but I do not prefer to experience it for the moment. Regards, Damien

Dear 10Silverman93, Just a short message to tell say that the advices you received from the forumers are really useful. I almost use same techniques as Greg and I have nice results until now. The most complicated period for these plants is the transition between growth and dormancy. Indeed, the substrate has to "dry" (not totally) step by step following the plants activity and that is a big tricky for some species. It is easier to manage this period using light substrate and deep pots. Regards

Hi Jimscott, I forget to answer this point about foot prints. Indeed, bogs are often used by farmers to feed their animal and when they have enough capitale and workforce, they also dry the soil to grow vegetables which give them much more cash that food crops. In the other hand, they also burn the wet areas for two main reasons. The first one is that they are afraid of snakes as they believe these animals are the reincarnation of spirits bringing bad news (such as death of relatives or friends) and obviously they can be dangerous especially for kinds. The second may reason is that during the civil war, lots of muggers use to hide behind tall grasses, so the keep this habit to "clean" with fire. Most of plants can recover after fires (Drosera are especially tolerant) but carnivorous plants definitly disappear after soil preparation for vegetables crops... Best regards, Damien

Wonderfull!

Hi everyone, Here are 2 pictures of my first P.filifolia flower. It is growing in a mix of sand and peat (70%/30%). Temperatures at nigth are about 23°C and 32°C during the day. Artificial light is provided by 4 neon lamps of 18W each one. Hope you enjoyed! Best regards, Dam

Hi again, I would like to show you a nice species I saw in the field in Angola last year and which is now growing well in my terrarium : Utricularia firmula! The flowers are quite small, about 3-4 mm. Look at the nice purple colour of the calyx! I hope you enjoyed Regards, Dam

Dear growers, Here is a picture of my Utricularia simulans. I really like these strange flowers... I am growing it in a terrarium in a mix of sand and peat (50%/50%), under artificial light and with a high water level. I hope you enjoyed. Regards, Damien

Formidable!

Hello, Carlos, some Genlisea were growing under 2 or 3 mm of water but other were located in dryer places not submerged by water. I came back in France 3 weeks ago now and I am still missing all these beautiful species I saw there ;-) Here are some another pictures of Utricularia species I saw: First a really nice form of U.livida growing with a D.madagascariensis (or D.congolana): On this picture you can see a nice U.welwitschii growing on ferralitic soil: This picture shows a U.prehensilis, sorry for the low quality: On this last picture there is a strange Utricularia specimen which could be U.scandens: I hope you enjoyed. Regards, Damien

Hi dear growers, Thanks a lot for all your comments! Two weeks ago I get back to a bog in southern place of Bié where I was hopping to find Genlisea pallida. Unfortunatly, I didn't not found it even after hours of prospection. Whereas I was searching for G.pallida, I saw among the grass big blue/violet of another Genlisea species:G.africana. Here is a pic of the population: A detail of the nice flower: There was also lots of specimens of another species: Genlisea margaretae I hope you enjoyed. Best regards, Damien

Bonjour Jardimanche, Welcome to cpukforum which is indeed a really interesting place! I am also studying in Montpellier. I guess you are in la faculté des sciences, where I was last year ;-) Feel free to contact me, I live really close to the univesity... Regards, Damien

Hi everyone, Thank youn for your comments. I am happy you enjoyed this topic! Fernando, remember that the smaller plants on the picture I sent to you first were most likely young D.madagascariensis according to Andreas. In fact there were lot of adult from this species growing there and it was the only one around. Regardigd the D.bequaertii on the pic, it was growing with hybrids which are probably a mix of D.madagascariensis, D.bequaertii and D.spec.zambiana, so hard to be sure for now it is a "pure on". Andreas confirmed for another specimen with clearer caracteristics. I will take new pictures later of the habitat and the plants to show you this details... Tomorrow, if everything is ok with work, I will continue to search for Genlisea pallida... Regards, Damien

Hello dear CPs entusiasts, I explored another part of a peaty grassland I already visited some days before to search for some Drosera species. After asking several people if there was no risk about landmines, I finally decided to check in different areas where soil humidity was still high hoping finding some D.madagascariensis which are really common in the Province. June, july and august are the dryest months and generally there is no rain during this peridod of the year and it is a good moment to see some blooming. However, I was not sure I would be able to see anything as farmers there burnt almost everything some weeks before. This practice aims to stimulate the regrowth of the grass and also control snakes invasion. You can see on the picture the area explored. Hopefully, after only 5 minutes I found my first population of Drosera and it was not D.madagascariensis! As you can see on the picture there were strange greenish-orange rosettes really similar to the“D.zambiana” that Fernando and Andreas saw in Zambia. The plants were growing on a sandy-peaty soil among high Poaceae. Soil moisture were still quite high, especially after the first 3 cm under the surface. Look at them: I found some beginning to bloom. On the following pic you can see one of the earliest: After taking some pictures, I follow to search for other species. I finally found some common D.madagascariensis but I didn’t take any picture of them in this place, sorry. I have to recognize that one of my goals was to find a poorly known species recorder in only 3 countries in tropical Africa including Angola. Some days before I already search really close from this area this nice sundew, the D.bequaertii but it was unsuccessfully!!! After 20 minutes I had to leave as my colleagues were waiting for me on the top of the hill. On the way to come back to the village I saw some red spots among the grass. It looks like kind of small, compact and really hairy “D.madagascariensis”. Getting closer and closer I finally recognize what I searched for: D.bequaertii. It was growing on similar type of soil than “D.zambiana” but a bit drier. Look at this beautiful sundew: You can see on the following picture the localization of each species on the area explored. Blue circles are for “D.zambiana” and the red one for D.bequaertii. I hope you enjoyed... Fernando, you should have a better idea of the habitat of D.bequaertii with this picture. Best regards, Dam Ps: I would like to thank a lot Andreas and Fernando for the help provided to confirm ID.

I forget to tell you that unfortunatly I didn't managed to find any G.pallida yet. The plants I get at first were G.margaretae but according to Andreas, this finding is interesting as this species was not recorded in Angola until now. I am not giving up as I can visit regularly a big bog which is in the area where we are doig the agricultural study. There are many rosettes of Genlisea from the recurvatae section in which G.glandulosissima, G.margaretae and G.pallida are classificated. Some of the plants will bloom soon as scapes are appearing!I have good hope to find it!!! If I get it you will know about that ;-). There are many interesting things about some findings we are discussing with Andreas and Fernando, especially about Drosera, so you will receive news soon! Regards, Damien

Hello everone, Yes Carlos I do speak portuguese. Thank you every one for your comments! Fernando is rigth, absolutly all of these observations have been done in Bié Province. However, I could not visit any good places for carnivorous close to Kuito, the capital of the Province where I stay when I am not on the field. Many area are still suspected to be landmined there so it can be dangerous. I already took some risks close to the Rio Cuchi in the southern part of the Province where a HUGE swamp is full of species I even could not get close for some of them...If you want more detail, the plants have been found in Kalucinga (in the municipality of Andulo), Cachingues and Chitembo (in the Province of Chitembo). The quantity of carnivorous plant here is just amazing, much more thant I could imagine before coming. In fact in this province there is a combination of interesting environmental factors for our plants. All the region is on a kind of high plateau with a tropical climate. There is a dry season and a rainy season with temperatures beetween 8°C and 30°C during the year. In the rainy season, all the water go trough the layer of old degraded ferralitic soils which are now kind of sandy soil. As the terrain is hilly and the granitic bedrock below is impermeable, this water escapes during all the dry season trough numerous water sources on the slope of the hills. Due to the presence of more or less stagnant water, the soil on the base of these hills get hydromorphic caracteristics it is why peaty grassland and bogs are really common... Between each hill there are 1, 2 or even 3 big bogs and around each rivers, several swamps, I let you imagine the possibilities for carnivorous plants evolution!!! Today I will send a picture of a really nice species I saw there: Utricularia spiralis. Look at these wonderful blue-violet flowers: The species has been only found in this nice garden of carnivorous plants. Other species growing there I could identified were D.burkeana, D.madagascariensis, G.hispidula (or G.subglabra), G.margaretae, U.welwistchii and may other Utricularia species that I was unable to identify without flower... Here is a picture of a nice rosette of G.margaretae: Regards, Damien

Hi everyone, Here are some news about carnivorous plants in Angola. I think I visited more than 10 CPsites where I could see something like 15 or 16 different species and many variations according to the localities. This country and especially the Province of Bié is just amazing, carnivorous plants are really everywhere. Here is a small list of the species I saw for curious growers: -D.affinis (3 sites) -D.burkeana (2 sites) -D.madagascariensis (5 sites) -D.pilosa (4 sites) -G.africana (2 sites) -G.hispidula (1 site) -G.pallida (2 sites) -U.firmula (1 site) -U.gibba (2 sites) -U.reflexa (1 site) -U.subulata (4 sites) -U.welwitschii (4 sites) -U. spec? n°1 : terrestrial species in really wet and shadowed places, generally submerged. Only the green long leave were apparent so it was impossible to identify (1 site) -U. spec? n°2 : an aquatic fixed species with big yellow flowers (1 site) -U. spec? n°3 : another aquatic fixed species with small dark yellow flower (1 site) -U. spec? n°4 : small terrestrial species with yellow flower which could be a strange variation of U.scandens (1 site) Of course I can not garantee 100% all the ID are right especially for the Drosera burkeana and D.pilosa, but I think it is quite representative. I want to notice that D.madagascariensis and U.welwitschii grow in very different kinds of soil with different level of organic matter, iron concentration and humidity level. It was quite impressive to see that. I guess you want pictures but my internet connexion is not enough strong to allow me to do it, so sorry for that...I will send more in a few day. Best regards, Damien

Thank you everyone for the comments! Kevin, the Genlisea ID is just a guess until now. Indeed it could be a G.margaretae but as G.pallida was registered in the Province of Bié where I saw the plant from the picture and G.margaretae is more localized in central eastern africa we assumed with Andreas and Fernando that there is high probability that it is G.pallida. Anyway, that would be confirmed in a few weeks when the flowers will open :-). Today I found another amazing CPs site with D.pilosa, D.madagascariensis, U.gibba, U.subulata and another yellow flower Utricularia I was not able to identify...I will send pictures later. Regards, Damien

Dear Martin, inside the U.reflexa traps there are preys, kind of acari... The Utricularia firmula are really nice here! Rdgs, Damien

Hello dear CP fans, This year I had the opportunity to do my internship for 3 months in the Province of Bié in the centre Angola. The objective for me there is to do a agrarian diagnostic of familiar agriculture. These 2 last weeks I could walk quite a lot to visit the farmers crops. They use to grow vegetables really close to the water resurgences in big bogs. As you know, these places are a paradize to search for CPs, so I begun to explore a bit and I found many many of them. The only problem of this country are the numerous landmines remaining in many areas. From the road you can see many places with the best conditions for CPs but often you are not sure if you can walk without taking high risks. For this reason, agricultural places are much more safe to explore in the Angolan case... I would like to thank Andreas and Fernando for the great help to identify all of the following species, even some IDs still have to be confirmed. One of the first site had a really sandy soil not so wet as another places. There I saw some Drosera pilosa growing around. I visited other CPs site, a really wet area, where I saw D.madagascariensis and G.africana growing together. D.madagascariensis G.africana In fact it is an Utricularia species with quite big leaves and traps... I went in another really big bog. After exploring only 5% of the area, I found many D.affinis, D.burkeana, D.pilosa, G.pallida, U.reflexa and U.welwithschii.There were other species but I was not able to spend more time there due to the work on the field. Many D.affinis D.affinis and G.pallida(?) G.margaretae growing together D.pilosa Perhaps one of the first picture of G.pallida(?) in situ.. It is in fact a nice Genlisea margaretae! By rosolis76 at 2012-06-16 U.reflexa U.welwitschii One of the last site I visited was full of U.firmula, U.subulata and D.burkeana growing together: U.firmula I hope you enjoyed it, I will try to send more picture later... Best regards, Damien

I will say 10 £. Regards, Damien

Just beautiful Maurizio! Congratulations!