Jump to content

Many carnivorous in Angola!


Recommended Posts

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.

butte.jpg

droserapilosa2.jpg

I visited other CPs site, a really wet area, where I saw D.madagascariensis and G.africana growing together.

cpsite2.jpg

droseramadagascariensis.jpg

D.madagascariensis

genliseaafricana.jpg

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.

bigbog.jpg

cpsite.jpg

Many D.affinis

droseraandgenlisea.jpg

D.affinis and G.pallida(?) G.margaretae growing together

droserapilosa.jpg

D.pilosa

genliseapallida.jpg

Perhaps one of the first picture of G.pallida(?) in situ.. It is in fact a nice Genlisea margaretae!

utriculariareflexa.jpg

By rosolis76 at 2012-06-16

U.reflexa

utriculariawelwitschii.jpg

U.welwitschii

One of the last site I visited was full of U.firmula, U.subulata and D.burkeana growing together:

utriculariafirmula.jpg

U.firmula

I hope you enjoyed it, I will try to send more picture later...

Best regards,

Damien

Edited by rosolis76
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Martin, inside the U.reflexa traps there are preys, kind of acari...

The Utricularia firmula are really nice here!

Rdgs,

Damien

Nice plants Damien! haven't seen the true U. firmula for a while!

Do you know what these orange spots are inside the reflexa trap?

Thanks for sharing

Martin

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Amazing pics Damien, what a unique opportunity, I'm jealous as can be! :)

I hope you have more opportunity to explore CP habitats while in Angola. Please keep sharing your pics here, they're a rare treat.

I can't wait to see the first ever pics of G.pallida flowers, I think it's just a matter of time before you stumble across a flowering population.

I'm also curious about seeing more pics of D.pilosa and D.burkeana. These two species seem really close... maybe too close.

Best Wishes,

Fernando Rivadavia

P.S. I'm also really curious about that orange stuff in the U.reflexa traps! BTW, next time you see this species, trying poking the trap entrance with a piece of grass and you'll maybe see the trap door being triggered - cool as hell!! :)

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Out of curiosity, why did you come to the conclusion, that this is G. pallida? The rosettes bear resemblence to other Genlisea, G. margaretae for example. I understand, that there is still much work to do to fully get a grasp on the distribution of the african species (and their more than likely natural hybrids), and maybe the plants that allegedly only occur on iron-rich soils might be found growing on other surfaces etc.

Is that a confirmed G. pallida sight or "just" a guess?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kevin, thus far it's an "educated guess". :)

We're assuming it may be G.pallida because of it's geographic distribution and because of the indumentum at the base of a broken scape that Damien found. But we still need flowering specimens to be sure.

So fingers crossed! :)

Fernando

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Out of curiosity, why did you come to the conclusion, that this is G. pallida? The rosettes bear resemblence to other Genlisea, G. margaretae for example. I understand, that there is still much work to do to fully get a grasp on the distribution of the african species (and their more than likely natural hybrids), and maybe the plants that allegedly only occur on iron-rich soils might be found growing on other surfaces etc.

Is that a confirmed G. pallida sight or "just" a guess?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Carlos,

Kuito (in Bié Province) is 735km SE of Luanda. Not only does Damien speak (and write) great Portuguese, but the good news for us all is that Damien says most people in these remote parts of Angola also speak Portuguese. So it's just a matter of us sitting down and planning a trip there. ;)

Best wishes,

Fernando

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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:

utriculariaspiralis.jpg

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...

carnivorousgarden.jpg

Here is a picture of a nice rosette of G.margaretae:

genliseamargaretae.jpg

Regards,

Damien

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

imgp0992.jpg

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:

droserazambianapopulati.jpg

I found some beginning to bloom. On the following pic you can see one of the earliest:

droserazambiana.jpg

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”.

dbequaertiipopulation.jpg

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:

dbequaertii.jpg

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.

droserahabitats.jpg

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really cool, thanks for that habitat shot!!!

As for D.bequaertii, hadn't we agreed that the plant you show above is most likely a hybrid? I thought one of those smaller plants you showed me was the true bequaertii...

Fernando

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...