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Sundews on Fire Island


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Imagine finding Sundews on a desert island surrounded by salt-water... that pretty much describes the Wilderness section of Fire Island.

I found an oasis which seems to be the only permanent & fully fresh water there (there's brackish marshes and seasonal fresh water puddles)

Is the literal watering hole too, I found it by following Fox tracks and there were plenty of other animal tracks there...

I've looked for Dews sporatically over the years, so it is a great feeling to have finally found them!!!

The Fire Island Wilderness is beautiful on the seaside of the dunes and I visit for camping and day trips often... but behind the dunes it's hot with no shade, Ba-Zillions of extremely agressive Mosquitos, Hordes of Ticks with Lyme, Poison Ivy everywhere... not a very friendly place... is wild though and fantastic!

These photos are only with my iPhone, so thery're not the best... I will be updating this thread with better pics sometime in the future.

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Nice pictures.

Here in the Netherlands Drosera rotundifolia is also found in some wet vaklleys of the dunes close tro the coast. Well fresh water is lighter trhen saltwater so when you get acid wet/moist sand or peat you often get Droseras.

Drosera rotundifolia grows in some areas here in the Low Countries by the thousends, like dandylions in a meadow. And D. intermedia is also common in some areas, especially in pionering vegetation on wet san or peat. And it likes when now and then the upper part of vegetation is removed. On the fresh bare sand it finds ideal conditions.

Alexander

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Thanks Noah, I never much thought of it, but it is a pretty cool name!

There is all sorts of local folklore about its origins, my favorite is the one with the Pirates!

Alexander, I've heard of Dews in the European Dunes, but are they on barrier islands? or just the shore?

There's plenty of big spots with much nicer Dews all around Long Island... these are special because these are on Fire Island, which is a little barrier island south of Long Island...

Hey Jimscott! well, there's only two pizzarias on Fire Island that I know of... but on Long Island, there's NY Pizzarias on like every corner!!

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Drosera rotundifolia is found on several of the Waddeneilanden. Its a chain of islands in the north of the country. The Islands are: Texel, Terschelling, Schiermonikoog and Ameland. The dunes here consist of limefree sand.Its also found in the dunes of the province of Noord Holland where the dunes are also limefree. In wet valleys of those dunes you get the D. rotundifolia, sphagnum and other acidcondition loving bogplants.

Farther south the sand in the dunes contains lime, from seeshelves. The raason the norther dunes are limefree and the southern ones are not has to do with the seacurrents wich did bring the sand to the coast wich resulted in dune formation in the past. So its a geological matter.

So no Drosera there.

In the German part of the Waddensea there are also Islands with limefree dunes, D. rotundifolia should be found there also.

Well D. rotundifolisa is fairly common here in the Low Countries. In the past a 1000 years agonwhen much of this country was endless barren bogland with probably millions of D. rotundifolia, one of the most common plants in those days I guess.

Should be a better national flower then then the non native tulips...

Last weeks I went to 2 areas here in the West of the country, plrenty D. rotundifolia. I do not boder with them anymore, hsave seen so many allready. Well, still a nice plant though.

But Long Island, New York you should get more exciting stuff like Sarracenia purpurea, never seen those in the wild until now.

Alexander

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Thanks Noah, I never much thought of it, but it is a pretty cool name!

There is all sorts of local folklore about its origins, my favorite is the one with the Pirates!

Alexander, I've heard of Dews in the European Dunes, but are they on barrier islands? or just the shore?

There's plenty of big spots with much nicer Dews all around Long Island... these are special because these are on Fire Island, which is a little barrier island south of Long Island...

Hey Jimscott! well, there's only two pizzarias on Fire Island that I know of... but on Long Island, there's NY Pizzarias on like every corner!!

If you want more info on where to find carnivorous plants, have a look at: www.waarneming.nl

You can see the distribution of Aldrovanda, Drosera,Utricularia and Pinguicula in The Netherlands.

Alexanderr

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Alexander, thanks for all the info! I have had an interest in the European dune CP's so that is all very interesting!

I had a look at the website you sent and had it translated, but wasn't able to find CP.

Hi Fernando, I suppose it could be, but it seemed that Rotund's grew around the pond, where Inter's grew at a puddle with wet soil around it sperated from the pond so I'm not sure... I do have some nice photos of definite and mature xBeleziana from other locations I'll be posting soon!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Alexander, thanks for all the info! I have had an interest in the European dune CP's so that is all very interesting!

I had a look at the website you sent and had it translated, but wasn't able to find CP.

Hi Fernando, I suppose it could be, but it seemed that Rotund's grew around the pond, where Inter's grew at a puddle with wet soil around it sperated from the pond so I'm not sure... I do have some nice photos of definite and mature xBeleziana from other locations I'll be posting soon!

Well in the top right side you just fill in the latin name, for example Drosera and then you get a list with the native Drosera. And you can see where they grow in the country.

Alexander

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  • 2 weeks later...

Interesting that Drosera x beleziana, a natural cross of D. rotundifolia with D. intermedia. I have never heard of it growing in Europe though D. rotundifolia and D. intermedia often are found closely together here. It seems to be found only in America. But D. obovata, the hybrid of D. anglica with D. rotundifolia is found here in Europe.

Strange that D. x beliziana is absent here.

Alexander

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