AdamH Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Hi, In Autumn 2002 I sowed some Drosera macrantha ssp planchonii seeds (from Chiltern Seeds), they subsequently germinated with tiny (5mm) rosettes, then successfully went dormant. They re-appeared last autumn (2003) with small (1 to 2cm) rosettes, and again went dormant. This year (autumn 2004) they have re-appeared for their 3rd growing season in their upright / climbing form. The following photos show a single pot of 3 plants (I have 9 in total), about 6cm high at present - I don't know how tall they will get this year: (The unlucky Lacewing was rescued later - I know, why am I growing CPs??!! ). Anyway, my main questions are: 1. Is this the true D. macrantha ssp planchonii ? (not sure if the photos show enough details to determine the likelihood of ID yet) 2. How long does this species take to reach flowering size from seed on average in reasonable growing conditions? Is my guesstimate of 5 years about right? If so, only 2 more years... ! Many thanks for any advice... P.S. Vic, how are yours doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanW Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Hi I think they look very good. Probably they are the right species, if they grow larger you will see it clearly. Most tuberous upright drosera are adult in their 2nd or 3rd season, so perhaps you will have flowers in some months. Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic brown Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Adam, SNAP!! :) Though perhaps not surprising since you gave me them as tiny, seedling tubers in 2003! I can't see any reason to suspect they are anything other than D. macrantha ssp. planchonii, comparison with my D. macrantha ssp. macrantha plants show they are clearly the same species and they look just like the photographs of D. macrantha ssp. planchonii in Lowrie Vol. 3 to me. Lowrie states that 'D. macrantha ssp. planchonii is reasonably consistant over its range ...' , so unless there is any reason to suspect that these don't originate from their natural range (S to SE Australia or Tasmania), I think the ID is correct. Cheers Vic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH Posted November 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Hi Jan + Vic, Thanks for the info! If you're right Jan about the 3 years to flowering, then indeed they may be flowering size this year possibly. I had assumed for some reason that it would take around 5 years to flowering (possibly because they were so small last year!), consequently they are still in smallish (10cm [4"]) pots (3 or 4 tubers per pot), so I hope they don't reform tubers too low - definately individual larger pots this summer! Thanks for the photos and ID confirmation Vic - I was 90% certain that they were D. macrantha ssp planchonii (as opposed to D. macrantha ssp macrantha or any other macrantha subspecies / variant), but I guess I'll know for certain when they are full sized and flowering! I originally purchased the seeds (as "Drosera planchonii") from Chiltern Seeds in 2002, so unfortunately don't have location data for them, but I'm still quite confident of their id. (I must say that I've had very good results from Chiltern's CP seeds to date). I've also been very pleasantly suprised at how easy they have been to grow from seed, the easiest tuberous Drosera species yet for me - since germination, I've had 100% survival rate so far! (Cue a sudden plague of snails, slugs and fungi... ! ). Anyway, I've just discovered another pot of D. macrantha ssp planchonii that I had forgotten about containing 4 strongly-growing plants, bringing my total to 13 plants. Hopefully this will provide a viable "breeding population" - maybe some experimental hybridization of tuberous sundews is in order! Thanks again for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 It's very difficult to distinguish seedlings of D. macrantha ssp. planchonii from forms of D. macrantha ssp. macrantha. The seedlings in the photographs have glabrous stems which is a stable feature of ssp. planchonii. This alone cannot ID it as ssp. planchonii though, as some forms of ssp. macrantha also have glabrous lower stems. I would say there is a strong likelihood that these plants are ssp. planchonii. The problem is that even when they are mature they will be extremely difficult to pick apart from ssp. macrantha. There is a good possibility that these seedlings may produce there first flowers this season. When small, the plants often produce a single flower. Any plants over about 10cms in height can produce flowers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH Posted November 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Hi Sean, Thanks for the extra info. Much appreciated. Is there any difference in the structure of seeds between the different subspecies of Drosera macrantha? I remember that the ones I sowed were a very unusual "contorted" shape, very strange! Unfortunately I didn't have a digital camera (or any camera!) at the time, otherwise I would have taken a macro shot prior to sowing (may be worth doing that in future). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langy Posted November 15, 2004 Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Hi, Adam Well done with the germination of your seeds, Im still waiting on my D. stolonifera Subsp. compacta that I sowed back in 2002 ! :wavey: Langy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH Posted November 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2004 Thanks Langy. And good luck with your Drosera stolonifera ssp compacta seeds - I hope they germinate for you this year! (Only 2 years though - don't give up on the pot for at least another year or two!! Some of these tuberous species need excessive patience! ). I'll post some further pics of my D.macrantha ssp planchonii plants when they have reached their full size for this growing season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odysseus Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 Great pics! I love how they trapped that lacewing! One leaf had a hold of the front wings and a second leaf had a hold of the back wings! :shocked: Fantastic show! Thanks for the pictures and I look forward to seeing the pictures that are on their way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted November 18, 2004 Report Share Posted November 18, 2004 Hi Adam, From what I have noticed (without the aid of a microscope), the different subspecies and forms of D. macrantha all appear to have the same elongated twisted shape. I'm not sure how reliably these could be used to identify the various subspecies. If you were to put a D. macrantha ssp. planchonii next to a D. macrantha ssp. macrantha and both plants were in full flower, I doubt whether I'd be able to say which was which. To me ssp. planchonii appears pretty much identical to many other forms of macrantha ssp. macrantha except it is generally much shorter- up to around 60cms (as opposed to up to almost 2 metres) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH Posted November 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Hi Sean, Thanks for the extra info. I'll just have to wait until they are fully mature to determine their ID 100% (well, as near as possible), but after this discussion, I'm currently 90% certain that they are D. macrantha ssp planchonii - partly because I generally trust the source (Chiltern Seeds), and partly because of the ease of culture (I generally find that species from South-East Australia are slightly easier for us Europeans to grow than those from Western Australia). Oh, and thanks for the kind comments Odysseus! These really are nice, fascinating Sundews - highly recommended! Thanks again for everyone's contibutions to this thread - much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.