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Genlisea Pygmaea Tubers


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Hello to all,

So for those of you who don't subscribe to CPN, here are some pictures of what I discovered dangling from G.pygmaea at the Chapada dos Veadeiros, N Goiás state, central Brazil in June 2007. Thomas Carow thought he'd seen tubers on plants which he collected near Diamantina, Minas Gerais state in the late 80's. So now it's confirmed, there is truly a tuberoous species of Genlisea!!! Thanks to Thomas for the original observation and thanks also to my friend Vitor Batista who was with me on that trip!

Best Wishes, Fernando Rivadavia

P.S. Just take note that these tubers are apparently only present on the larger form of this species and only during the winter dry season.

Here are 2 pics of the dying rosettes of G.pygmaea (and a few plantlets of D.sp."Corumbá", a new species similar to D.hirtella):

GpygmaeaCV1.jpg

GpygmaeaCV2.jpg

Here's me holding some plants at the moment of discovery, not believing what I was seeing:

GpygmaeaCV03.jpg

GpygmaeaCV04.jpg

GpygmaeaCV06.jpg

GpygmaeaCV02.jpg

Here are some tubers after washing:

GpygmaeaCV11.jpg

GpygmaeaCV12.jpg

GpygmaeaCV16.jpg

And here's the result of several hours of careful washing in the hotel bathroom and many failed attempts (most tubers broke off very easily, it was terribly difficult to get this one plant with the tuber still attached):

GpygmaeaCV09.jpg

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Hi Fernando,

great discovery, congratulation. :happy:

Does this mean that all bigger plants of G. pygmaea are forming such tubers in the dry season or only plants from these two locations.

Most people don´t give them a completely dry period and they are growing them under high humidity and water level, me too.

Perhaps other Genlisea species are forming tubers as well and nobody had noticed it till yet? Is this possible?

Thanks for this very interesting detail.

Best regards,

Dani

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Carlos: Yes, I took the pictures. It was very difficult keeping this a secret for so many months! :)

Daniel: At the moment, your guess is as good as mine. I am not sure how many forms of G.pygmaea form tubers, nor if they always do so -or only when induced by a drier period. Coincidentally the 2 known reports of tubers (mine & Thomas') come from places where I've only seen a very large form of G.pygmaea (Chap.Veadeiros & Diamantina). This large form is also present in other areas of the Espinhaço Highlands (& maybe elsewhere), N & S of Diamantina. Maybe these have tubers as well.

I also don't know if other species form tubers, but I believe none of the S.American ones do. I think it only took me so long to discover these tubers because G.pygmaea is a relatively rare species, found in small populations. It always struck me as odd that this large form would disappear in the dry season and then come back really quickly in the wet season (it's the only one that does this in L.America, but maybe one of the African species follows this pattern too). Annuals usually take longer to grow from seed and flower. Well... mystery solved! :)

Best Wishes, Fernando Rivadavia

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia
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