Sunday, May 3, 2015

Stem-forming sundews

I noticed something very exciting today – my Drosera cistiflora is forming a stem!

Drosera cistiflora.
Reach for the stars little guy.
It even looks like it's cheering, hahahah. I probably won't get flowers this year, but I'm very happy with this plant. It's become one of my favorites.

D. cistiflora isn't the only stem-forming South African sundew. The most well-known is probably Drosera madagascariensis, which develops a scrambling habit very quickly.

Drosera madagascariensis.
It's a jungle in here.
In cultivation lots of people will chop them back and take stem cuttings. I haven't done that since I have neither the time nor the space and well, here we are.

Our old friend Drosera capensis is also a stem-forming plant, though it stems out much more slowly than D. madagascariensis.

Drosera capensis.
I'd need to do some trimming to see the stem.
Drosera capensis "broad leaf".
This is a pretty neat plant.
The first photo is my original D. capensis, which has a pretty respectable stem, but it's hidden by a clump of dead leaves and offsets. The lower photo, my D. capensis "broad leaf" is showing its stem a bit better.

Drosera affinis is sort of intermediate between D. madagascariensis and D. capensis in how quickly it forms a stem.

Drosera affinis.
I have high hopes for that flower stalk.
The very similar Drosera nidiformis is much the same, though mine has yet to start stemming out yet. Edit: As it turns out D. nidiformis does not in fact form a stem. I mis-remembered while making this post. Looks pretty good in any case.

Drosera nidiformis.
These should probably be in a larger pot.
South African sundews are very cool. It's the first region that interested me, and it's one of least-studied. Fernando Rivadavia says that that's because we don't have a carnivorous plant expert in-country right now. If anyone in South African can read these words, go forth and study some plants.

4 comments:

  1. The stem-forming Drosera are my favorite! Are you sure Drosera nidiformis forms a stem though? According to growsundews.com it doesn't.

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  2. hey man; im about to buy utrics and been thinking to put into long square pot (full with capensis) at windowsill.

    can utrics + capensis live together in moist soil, or must be flooded?
    have no lamp, and tap water seems ok. muscipulas struggle in winter-some dies.
    capensis kinda hard to kill. even once forgot to water.

    reason wanting utrics is have some green covering the soil, no luck with moss....flowers could be a bonus.
    seller has bisquimata,livida which is better; (or is nicer to cover the soil)?

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    Replies
    1. the capensis flowering is like spam, nonstop..even now

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