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Five new species


Andreas Fleischmann

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Five new species of Genlisea have just been published in the latest issue of the botanical journal Phytotaxa.

All of them belong to the subgenus Tayloria, i.e. the Brazilian species with seed capsules that open as two valves, and which have a spur that is spreading from the flower tube. This subgenus thus far did contain three species, namely G. violacea, G. lobata and the large G. uncinata.

However in the past few years (or even decades ;)) Fernando Rivadavia discovered several new species, which were now altogether described in a complete revision of the subgenus:

“A revision of Genlisea subgenus Tayloria” by Fernando Rivadavia, Paulo Gonella, Günther Heubl, and myself, in Phytotaxa 33, pages 1-40 (published 28 November 2011).

The whole article (40 pages, with identification key, line drawings of all eight species, distribution maps, flower photographs and SEM images of the seeds of all species) can be sent to anyone interested on request – just send me an e-mail (not a PM, as I will probably not read it too soon).

Probably the most widespread of the new species in cultivation is G. flexuosa, a perennial species of close affinity to the annual G. violacea. It is very easy in cultivation, and is known under the name G. violacea ‘Giant’ or G. ‘giant rosette’. I would even say that most “G. violacea” in cultivation (especially if they grow like a weed, are perennial and form carpets of leaves propagating by little plantlets that are budding from the trap leaves) are in fact G. flexuosa.

The artificially created hybrid “G. lobata x violacea” sold by Kamil Pasek (bestcarnivorousplants) actually is a hybrid of G. lobata and G. flexuosa (and not G. violacea).

The name of that new species refers to the long, flexuous scapes of this species, which have pedicles that reflex in fruit, and will twine around nearby herbs and grasses for support.

G_flexuosa_03.jpg

G. flexuosa at the type location.

G_flexuosa_02.jpg

This species grows in swampy areas, usually between tall grasses, often accompanied by other CPs such as Drosera graminifolia, D. grantsaui, D. x fontinalis, D. tomentosa, D. communis, Genlisea repens, G. aurea, and various Utricularia species. A CP paradise!

G_flexuosa_01.jpg

The flowers with the relatively large lower lip and the comparatively small upper lip, and the long spur are familiar to many CPers, who have been growing this plant for a long time as “G. violacea ‘giant’”. The most easy to grow species of the whole subgenus in my opinion....

Another of the news species that also is in cultivation already (at least in Europe): Genlisea metallica, also known as G. sp. Itacambira Beauty. This is also a perennial species, with beautiful dark lilac flowers, that have a metallic shine in full sun (hence it’s name, which does not result from the authors' non-existing enthusiasm for the rock band, but from the flower's light reflections ;)). However some of my colleagues at least told me that this Genlisea species rocks! ;)

G. metallica is probably the most glandular of the South American Genlisea species, and its scapes are even sticky when fully dried. It has a compact rosette of densely arranged leaves, which will however usually die back after flowering, and the plant survives a short dormancy at it’s natural location by a thickened underground stem. This species is very rare in the wild, and so far only know from two single populations.

G_metallica_01.jpg

G. metallica at the type location

G_metallica_02.jpg

G. metallica has flowers with a metallic shine, and large upper corolla lobes which are widely spreading.

The large G. oligophylla is also a perennial species, which was thus far known as G. spec. ‘Cipo’. It is closely related to G. uncinata, and also has very thick, succulent tall scapes and only very few leaves during flowering time (the species’ name “oligophylla” means “with few leaves”).

G_oligophylla_01.jpg

This species prefers to grow in more well-drained places, in sandy soil which are not soaking wet but only slightly moist in the dry season. It is usually found among tall grasses, and the flowers are borne on very long and succulent thick scapes.

G_oligophylla_02.jpg

In contrast to the related G. uncinata, the corolla of G. oligophylla is veined, and the spur is never curved hook-like at its tip.

The remaining two species are annuals like G. violacea and G. lobata (in the wild, but probably facultative perennials like all species of subgenus Tayloria in cultivation).

One species from the state of Bahia was discovered by Fernando Rivadavia near the Fumaça waterfall, and thus had the preliminary name G. sp. ‘Fumaça’ thus far. This species was named Genlisea exhibitionista, which refers to Fernando’s sense of choosing strange names in general, but in particular to the flower morphology of this species: unlike most other Genlisea species, the corolla tube of this species is not fully closed (like in typical “snap-dragon” type flowers), but has an open throat – like eg. most Pinguicula species have. Thus the stamens of this species show off, and are not hidden by the corolla palate, therefore the name ;)

This species most likely has adapted to a different pollinating insect, as it does not only have an open corolla throat, but also a short and thick spur, thus the pollinator most likely is a short-tongued insect (whereas the other Tayloria species are likely to be pollinated by insects with a long proboscis, like bombylid flies or butterflies and moths).

G_exhibitionista_01.jpg

The short spur, open corolla throat and hairy scape of G. exhibitionista.

The remaining species is also a very rare one, and was yet only observed at two little locations. At one of them, this species grows in the spray of a large waterfall, and thus get permanently fogged by the spray. Therefore we named it Genlisea nebulicola – “growing in the spray”. This species has been referred to by Fernando by the informal name “G. mini-violacea”, which fit well, as this is the tiniest member of the subgenus. In all other respects, it resembles more a G. lobata however. It has delicate little flowers on thin scapes, which are almost glabrous – in contrast to all other species of the subgenus. The rosettes of leaves are comparatively large, in contrast to the inflorescence parts.

All the best,

Andreas

PS: I am sure Paulo will post more photos of the new species soon, especially of G. nebulicola, which I haven’t seen alive personally yet.....

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Thanks for the delightful summary Andreas! ;)

To get Andreas off the hook, I'll publicly declare here that it was VERY difficult to convince him to accept such non-traditional botanical names for some of the species, hahaha.

Lee, G.sp.Canastra is another one of the informal names for G.nebulicola.

Ah, it's so good to finally have all these species published. NEXT!! :)

Best wishes,

Fernando

P.S. For those of you who email Andreas or I for a copy of the paper, please make sure to notice the magnificent line drawings made by Andreas!!

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Thanks for the delightful summary Andreas! ;)

To get Andreas off the hook, I'll publicly declare here that it was VERY difficult to convince him to accept such non-traditional botanical names for some of the species, hahaha.

Lee, G.sp.Canastra is another one of the informal names for G.nebulicola.

Ah, it's so good to finally have all these species published. NEXT!! :)

Best wishes,

Fernando

P.S. For those of you who email Andreas or I for a copy of the paper, please make sure to notice the magnificent line drawings made by Andreas!!

Thanks for that Fernando,

LeeB.

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Congratulations to all of you.

Indeed very nice flowers, G. metallica is really a beauty.

Are the flower stalks of plants in cultivation also so deeply coloured?

And what about the very beautiful G. violacea ´Couto de Magalhães de Minas, Minas Gerais, Brazil´ with the nice deep purple venation, is it "still" a G. violacea?

Best regards,

Dani

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Yes Dani, there is still much more to study and G.violacea remains a complex. However I don't remember that particular population being very different, so maybe you should open a topic with pictures to refresh my memory. ;)

Thanks,

Fernando

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Hello,

Thanks for the nice compliments!

Daniel, the colour of the scapes and also the flowers is more intense at natural habitats, because the plants get higher levels of radiation there, in combination with a notable temperature decrease at night (which is usually not given in cultivation). That's why the scapes are dark reddish in the wild, but usually remain green in cultivation. [for those interested [off topic]: the red pigmentation of most CPs is caused by anthocyanines, which accumulate like sugars in the cells of the plant. The more difference between day temperature and night temps, the more sugars and pigments are found in the cells, and the deeper coloured they will get. This is because the plant cannot consume all sugar produced during the day at night (as the nocturnal sugar metabolism is temperature dependant - the cooler the nights, the less the plant can consume; some alpine plants are adapted to this, that's why they do not grow well at low altitudes: they starve! That's why some high alpine plants like Nepenthes villosa are so difficult to grow when they do not get a propper nocturnal cooling). And the same is the reason why your venus flytrap will get very dark red leaf blades in autumn. However in case of the reddened scapes of these Genlisea, this is nothing essential for the plant - they may look better with red scapes, but actually this is protection of the plant against radiation, and they will do as well without this red colour].

As Fernando already mentioned, Genlisea violacea - which is the most widespread species of subgenus Tayloria - is very variable across its range, especially in the outlying regions. The small plants from Couto de Magalhaes you mentioned, with a short cylindrical spur and beautifully veined flowers, however are closely matching the type of G. violacea. Although this "form" might be rare in cultivation, these plants from the centre of the range (around the Diamantina planteau) are relatively uniform - compared eg. with the strange large plants found in the northern part of the range (eg. in the Serra do Cabral), the amazingly coloured plants from the western end of the range at Furnas, and the plants from the southern end of the range (eg. from Ibitipoca).

The morphologically most different G. violacea, however, which I first considered to be a distinct species, are the very glandular plants with a quite different corolla with glandular margins, and with broad leaves on creeping stolons, from one site at the Serra do Cipó, where they co-occur with G. oligophylla. These plants have a very pale (almost white) corolla in cultivation. However genetically, they are almost identical to the remaining "forms" of G. violacea.

But now some photos to illustrate the variation of G. violacea (plants from cultivation - thanks to everyone who has sent me seed in the past!!). The size, colour, and venation of the corolla, the glands on spur and corolla margins, and the shape and length of the spur differ greatly between populations of this annual species.

G_violacea_CdM.jpg

More "typical" G. violacea.

G_violacea_SdI.jpg

This plant from the South has larger flowers, with a white area around the yellow marking on the palate, and with a thicker spur.

G_violacea_MV.jpg

Comparison of the large-flowered "form", and the more typical plants.

G_violacea_Cipo.jpg

The strange, very glandular plants from a site at the Serra do Cipó.

G_violacea_SdC.jpg

The even more puzzling plants from the northern end of the range, which have a very long spur, and many flowers, and which are a bit intermediate between G. violacea and G. flexuosa.

To compare, G. flexuosa from two locations: note the very long spur, and the different shape of the corolla (especialy angle between upper and lower lip! In G. violacea, this is more a flat landing platform for the pollinator...)

G_flexuosa_GM.jpg

G_flexuosa_Bot.jpg

All the best,

Andreas

Edited by Andreas Fleischmann
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Hi Andreas,

many many thanks for the further explanation and the new pictures. Somehow i like this genus more and more.

Yes, i was talking about these small plants from ´Couto de Magalhaes´. The only difference in comparison to the plants i grow is that your flowers seem to be a little bit more pale.

Best regards,

Dani

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I just wanted to express my appreciation for the selected species epithets. If it was you who did the convincing then, thank you Fernando! I love it when people get creative with their species epithet descriptions. If ever I am in a position to name a species, I may just have to call Fernando for some advice. In all seriousness, I would also like to congratulate the entire team for all of the wonderfully detailed, and much needed work on this group of plants.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi there!

I just posted photos of the fifth new species, Genlisea nebulicola, both in the habitat and in cultivation:

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=44561 - habitat

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=44562&pid=310400&st=0entry310400 - cultivation

All the Best,

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Fantastic pics in a fantastic environment! You guys should share your stories of adventure with some film studio in New York. Of course in a movie, at least one of you will end up getting eaten by one of your discoveries. But it'd be a great movie, and I can hear the cash registers chiming :-)

Cheers,

Tim

Edited by Tim Caldwell
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  • 11 months later...

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