Carniflora Australis Journal of the Australasian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. Number 2, October 2003 28 ISSN 1448-9570 PRICE $3.00 Free with Membership Subscription Notes to contributors All members, single, family and overseas $AU25.00 Contributions including articles, letters, photographs and drawings to the journal are greatly appreciated and may be forwarded to the societies postal Please make cheques or money orders payable to the Australasian address or online. The views expressed in this journal are of the authors not Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. Membership and correspondence necessarily those of the Australasian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. should be forwarded to the Secretary at Contributions to the journal may be submitted on 3.5inch (PC) disc, CD or by email. Use Microsoft Word whenever possible. For instructions on sub- www.carniflora.com mitting photographs and diagrams please contact the editor. Contact details are preferred for publication but may be excluded by the authors request. PO BOX 4009 Articles may be reproduced with written permission from the society. Photo- Kingsway West NSW 2208 (Australia) graphs and drawings remain copyright of the author and may not be repro- duced without the author’s permission. Meeting are held on the second Friday of each month Time: 7.30pm—10.00pm Dedicated to Conservation and Education Venue: Woodstock Community Centre Church St, Burwood © Australasian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. 2003 Contents Front Page: Nepenthes sanguinea, Near the summit of Gunung Ulu Kali. Do your carnivorous plants produce seed? Phot by Greg Bourke How about donating some to the societies seed bank! For the seed bank to Back Page: Utricularia reniformis, Grown and photographed by Dr. Chris work successfully it relies on donations. Any spare seed you have can be Schell forward to the societies address but it must be clean and labelled. Title Author Page What do we mean by clean? Sometimes it Pays Kirk Hirsch 4 You must ensure the seed is separated from all other flower parts. Notes on seed germination and viability Greg Bourke 5 How should it be labelled? With the full species name e.g. Drosera rotundfolia NOT D. rotundifolia. If Trip to Far North Queensland Greg Bourke 7 sending seed from outside Australia, it must also have a customs declaration stating what is in the package. This avoids delays with Australian customs. Cultivation and flower inducement of Dr. Chris Schell 17 Utricularia reniformis. If you wish to donate seed, it is advisable to contact the Seed Bank Manager [email protected] to ensure that it is OK to donate that particular Back to Basics. Sarracenia rhizome and Owen O’Neil 20 species, i.e. some species are protected by CITES while others are listed as root care potential weeds in Australia. Exploring the Genting Highlands Greg Bourke 23 Please donate seed and help others enjoy growing carnivorous plants! 2 27 to which tree you set your tripod up headed back. The feeling of being UPCOMING SPEAKERS AND EVENTS FOR in. I had set the tripod up approxi- completely lost came over us as we mately three metres above the for- followed the maze of paths around 2003/2004 est floor and was adjusting the cam- the mountain. I guess being lost Date Subject Speaker era to focus on a pitcher when I was here, surrounded by Nepenthes isn’t November Carnivorous plants in Greg Bourke set upon by dozens of angry ants. all that bad but we had a plane to Western Australia (Slide The bites really stung and it took catch! After an hour of searching, show) some time to pack the camera up we eventually found our way back before I could escape. Fortunately to the main trail and to the car. Un- November Plant Auction the pictures made it worth while. fortunately this left us no site see- December Christmas swap meet. ing time in Kuala Lumpur but we We thought that the trail we had were both completely satisfied and January Seed collection and storing Greg Bourke come up on ran right along the well and truly warmed up for the summit and when the afternoon was next leg of our journey, Sabah, Bor- February General discussion getting late had turned around and neo. March Sarracenia Greg Bourke References: April General discussion Clarke, C.M. (2001) Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia, Natural History Publications (Borneo) Kota Kinibalu Christmas Swap Meet and Plant Show Jones, D.L. and Clemesha, S.C. Australian Ferns and Fern Allies, Reed. (Australia) Frenches Forest 2003 Shivas, R. G. Nepenthes of Gunung Ulu Kali, Carnivorous Plant Newsletter Saturday 13 December, 2003 12 (3): 65 10am to 4pm Woodstock Community Centre, Burwood ►Come see the largest display of Carnivorous Plants on in Sydney! ►Demonstrations and advice from the experts ►Competitions and great prizes ►Bring your plants for sale, swap or show ►Plenty of off street parking ►BBQ facilities available in a relaxing park setting. A good day out for the whole family ►For more information contact the society [email protected] or phone (02) 4684 3478 26 3 the canopy was quite low, generally metre in length. This is essential as Sometimes it pays less than three metres. In this area the pitchers are quite large and Kirk (Fűzzy) Hirsch Nepenthes ramispina was the most heavy and need the support of the E-mail: [email protected] common Nepenthes species en- Sphagnum. Some of the lower countered. These plants scrambled pitchers seen would hold approxi- across the tops of the trees with mately 300 millilitres of fluid. This year my Drosera stolonifera ber was safe, no nibble marks on its their inviting pitchers hanging These lower pitchers are beautifully didn’t come up from dormancy. epidermal layer, just that base of above the track. Our liking for these coloured with dark maroon blotches Talking with a Drosera guru, he the shoot coming out instead. I soon changed as they emptied their on a lime green background. The told me not to worry, for sometimes planted the tuber some 3cm below contents onto our heads and down peristome is generally red though a tuberous one won’t for a year, the sand this time, in hopes that it our backs. We also found a few there was some variation with green taking a year off so to speak. Still, will re-sprout this spring season. plants that appeared to be hybrids striped peristomes seen on some I fretted. It’s the only WA tuberous with Nepenthes macfarlanei. The plants. There were mottled pitchers Drosera I have left after my D. er- I can wait if it doesn’t, making sure pitchers were similarly shaped to similar in colour to the lower ones hythrorhiza died, and it died be- the pot doesn’t completely dry out, those of Nepenthes ramispina but but there were also completely yel- cause the tuber was buried at the for the poor tuber was reduced in lighter in colour with some mottling low pitchers with yellow peris- bottom, came out the side of the size too, and may not have the en- inside the pitchers. tomes and every shade and combi- drainage hole, and didn’t like it. ergy for the long shoot that it pre- nation in between. There was very fers to sprout from. So, let this be a Deeper into the centre of the mossy little prey captured by these plants. Fearing perhaps another scenario of lesson to some people that it does- forest we came across more Nepen- The insects that were seen were similar fate, I meddled. GOOD n’t hurt to fiddle around sometimes thes macfarlanei plants as the can- quite small, mostly flying insects. I THING I DID! and fuss over plants and go against opy became higher. Light levels was surprised not too see more ants the advice of the experts. here were quite low, equivalent to in the pitchers as these were the My D. stolonifera WOULD have about 50% shade. Nepenthes only insects commonly seen by us come up if a bloody witchetty grub May your tuberous Drosera sprout macfarlanei was the most common in the mossy forest. didn’t eat the sprouting shoot all the greenly! Füzzy Nepenthes found growing only as way to the base of the tuber! It be- terrestrials while Nepenthes One plant of Nepenthes ramispina came plant food for some hungry ramispina plants were commonly plant was seen growing with no flytrap quite quickly. The poor tu- found growing on the trunks and root system at all! The three metre branches of the larger trees. The long stem growing completely sup- adult Nepenthes macfarlanei plants ported by the tendrils curled around here were large (up to one metre surrounding vegetation. This is across) with a short nodal distance. when the plant is truly reliant on its The infundibular lower pitchers of pitchers. Nepenthes macfarlanei are gener- ally placed on top of the Sphagnum. One thing I learned while photo- To achieve this, the plant produces graphing these plants in the canopy very long tendrils of almost one is that you must be very selective as 4 25 ground with lower pitchers over 30 most vertical sides of what ap- centimetres tall. All pitchers were peared to be an old quarry only 50 Notes on seed germination and viability copper coloured with light green metres from the summit. From Greg Bourke almost yellow peristomes. Grow- here the short walk to the summit E-mail: [email protected] ing beside this was what I initially was along a well-worn path. Large thought to be Nepenthes chunks of Sphagnum had fallen This article was inspired by a con- time of year as seed of the respec- macfarlanei.