ISSN 1033-6966 VICTORIAN CARNIVOROUS PLANT SOC IETY Inc. March 2006 No. 79 P. immaculata x emarginata Nepenthes x allardii Utricularia nelumbifolia Dionaea muscipula “Goliath” Drosera parvula ssp sargentii Sarracenia flava var. rugelii Drosera praefolia D. whittakerii ssp whittakerii D. whittakerii ssp whittakerii VICTORIAN CARNIVOROUS VICTORIAN CARNIVOROUS PLANT SOC IETY Inc. PLANT SOC IETY Inc. Annual Subscriptions Issue No. 79 March 2006 Australian membership $20.00 Office Bearers: July 2005 – June 2006 Overseas membership $20.00 Payment from overseas must be in Australian dollars. President Stephen Fretwell All cheques or money orders should be made payable to the Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc (VCPS). Vice President Sean Spence Payment by credit card is NOT available at the time of this journal issue. General Secretary Paul Edwards Correspondence Minutes Secretary Sean Spence Please forward all correspondence regarding subscription, change of address, Other Publications Gordon Ohlenrott articles for the journal and back issues to: The Secretary VCPS Journal Editor Stephen Fretwell P.O. Box 201 SOUTH YARRA 3141. Assistant Journal Editor George Caspar AUSTRALIA Internet Co-ordinator Paul Edwards Journal articles, in MS-Word, ready for publication, may be Emailed to the Editor or Secretary. Treasurer Ken Neal Librarian Andrew Gibbons Meetings Seedbank Administrator George Caspar Most VCPS meetings are held in the hall at the rear of the Pilgrim Uniting Church on the corner of Bayview Road and Montague Street, Yarraville – Melway map reference Hardware Co-ordinator Andre Cleghorn 41K7. These meetings are on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 8 PM. However, some meetings may be at the home of members during a weekend. Show Co-ordinator Peter Anderson Details of meeting dates and topics are listed in each journal. Field Trips Organiser George Caspar If unsure of the location or date of any meeting, please ring a committee person for details. Public Officer Alexander Whitehouse The VCPS Annual General Meeting, usually held at Yarraville in June, provides substantial benefits for each and every member able to attend. Sales Administrator Ron Abernethy 2 – VCPS VCPS – 3 Contents FRONT COVER: MEETING TOPICS & DATES for 2006 D. praefolia found growing VICTORIAN CARNIVOROUS P LANT SOC IETY at Onkaparinga National Park in South Australia. Photographed by Stephen This year we have scheduled the following discussion topics, and events: Utricularia Fretwell. January (14th) New Year BBQ, Darlingtonia, Dionaea. reniformis grown by Paul BACK COVER: February (22nd) Sarracenia species and hybrids, beginners night. Edwards won Clockwise from top left: first place in I P. immaculata x emarginata , March (22nd) Nepenthes and Heliamphora . the Utricularia grown by Sean Spence. April (26th) Drosera , video and information night. division at the I Nepenthes x allardii from 2005 VCPS the 2005 VCPS show. (24th) Growing conditions, pygmy Drosera gemmae annual show. May I Utricularia nelumbifolia collection, 'best' and 'worst' plants. grown and photographed by June (28th) AGM, plant give-away, any CPs. Utricularia nelumbifolia and its cultivation 6 Sean Spence. I Sarracenia flava var. rugelii July (26th) Seed growing, tissue culture and potting from the 2005 VCPS show. demonstration, any CPs. South Australian Drosera 10 I D. whittakerii ssp whittakerii found growing at Anstey Hill August (23rd) Tuberous/Winter growing Drosera , show In search of Drosera praefolia 11 Conservation Park in S.A. preparation, displays, and companion planting. I D. whittakerii ssp whittakerii September (27th) Cephalotus , Brocchinia, Catopsis and swap night. VCPS 2005 Annual show 16 found growing at Scott Conservation Park in S.A. October (29th) Field trip to Triffid Park (Sunday afternoon, I Dionaea muscipula “Goliath” commencing with barbecue lunch) Pinguicula VCPS 2005 Show summary 17 grown by Paul Edwards and pygmy Drosera. “Grand Champion” of 2005. Our Other Publications 20 I D. parvula ssp sargentii November (22nd) Byblis, Drosophyllum, Genlisea, Roridula, Utricularia. (centre) grown and photo- graphed by Stephen Fretwell . December (TBA) Annual show at Collectors Corner. The articles that are found within are copyright but can be copied Journal Design: freely if the author and source are acknowledged. The views are of the Stephen Fretwell Please note: All meetings, other than those where a specific venue is given, will be on the FOURTH WEDNESDAY of the month in the hall of the Pilgrim Uniting authors and are open to review and debate. Please send all material to Printed by: Church in Yarraville – corner Bayview Road and Montague Street, Melway Map the editor for consideration to be included in our quarterly journal. Snap Printing (Box Hill) Reference 41K7. 4 – VCPS VCPS – 5 3-4cm long and wide, coloured in a beautiful bright pink-lilac with two vertical yellow stripes Utricularia nelumbifolia on an elevated bulge at the base of the lower lip, surrounded by a dark pink-purple patch.” “According to Taylor (1989), the traps of U. nelumbifolia are 1.5-2.5mm long; larger than and its cultivation those of U. reniformis (0.7-1.5mm) but tiny in comparison to those of U. humboldtii (5- SEAN SPENCE 12mm). As for the leaves of U. nelumbifolia , the petioles may reach 45cm in length and the Introduction peltate circular lamina may be up to 10cm in tricularia nelumbifolia Gardn. is one of the diameter (Taylor, 1989).” largest species in the genus, together “Most of the U. nelumbifolia leaves arise U with the closely related U. reniformis from stolons tightly packed within the U. nelumbifolia producing stolons. St.Hil. and U. humboldtii Schomb., all from sec - bromeliad leaf axils, but we found occasional tion Iperua P.Taylor (Taylor, 1989). These are small (often reniform) leaves with short peti - the only three species of Utricularia known to oles on the so-called “aerial” stolons.” grow epiphytically inside the waterfilled leaf axils of bromeliads, although this is only known to On the purpose of the aerial stolons occur rarely with U. reniformis . U. nelumbifolia produced by Utricularia nelumbifolia thrives exclusively inside bromeliads (Rivadavia, “In U. nelumbifolia these aerial stolon subdivi - 2001 and pers. comm) and is widespread on sions reach deep into the axils of the tightly- highlands of eastern Brazil (Taylor, 1989). layered bromeliad leaves, like a grasping claw, The following extracts penned by Fernando acquiring thus a strong “foothold”. Rivadavia and published in CPN edition of As for the function of these aerial stolons, March 2001 vividly portray the natural condi - Taylor (1989) claims that they are a means of tions in which a wild population of Utricularia vegetative propagation, by growing from one nelumbifolia occurs. Fernando and friends Joe bromeliad into another. But after studying both U. nelumbifolia in flower. Mullins and Fábio Pinheiro encountered the The distinctive leaves of U. nelumbifolia U. nelumbifolia and U. humboldtii in the wild, I species during an expedition to south eastern Photos: Sean Spence have a different hypothesis based on the follow - terrain had been a bit of a problem too, but Brazil in February/March 1996. mountainside had an inclination of about 45 ing observations. Although aerial stolons may I’m sure it would’ve been much worse if it had “While exploring highlands in eastern Minas degrees at this point, but higher above the reach more than a meter in length (Taylor, rained. I sure wouldn’t have liked to find out Gerais state, we were lucky to meet a guy smooth rock curved upwards increasingly, 1989), I noticed that each one usually lands only how slippery that smooth bromeliad-covered called Lúcio Leoni who ran a herbarium in the becoming a vertical cliff.” 5-20cm away from where it originally emerged. rock surface became when wet!” town of Carangola and knew much of the “I could now see that the smooth rock face Furthermore, I observed that the host bromeli - It is worth noting that all of the plants of region’s native flora. To our surprise, he knew above us was truly polka-dotted with bromeli - ads were usually located too far apart from each Utricularia nelumbifolia in cultivation are a few CP locations in the area, including a ads by the thousands.” other, out of the reach of the aerial stolons. thought to have derived from collections U. nelumbifolia population.” Therefore the aerial stolons almost always grew made by Fernando and his colleagues at this “He claimed that the granite cliffs were Upon discovering Utricularia nelumbifolia out of and back into the same bromeliad.” location and on the Serra dos Orgaos high - absolutely covered with the bromeliad growing within the bromeliad urns The most interesting point here is that the lands in Rio de Janeiro state ~200kms away Alcantarea extensa (L.B.Smith) J.R.Grant and “Some bromeliads were absolutely infested aerial stolons apparently serve to recolonize (pers. comm. F. Rivadavia). that these were in turn packed tight with with this Utricularia , all the way from the out - the innermost parts of the “same” bromeliad, U. nelumbifolia .” ermost dead and deteriorated leaf axils right since U. nelumbifolia is slowly pushed outwards Growing Utricularia nelumbifolia from up to the central water tank. We were as the bromeliad rosette grows (pers. comm. seed to maturity On arriving at the location even fortunate enough to catch a few open F. Rivadavia) The seeds of U. nelumbifolia only remain viable “At c.1200m altitude, there was a brief U. nelumbifolia flowers.” for a short period of time. This species, like its transition between the short trees growing in “The inflorescences were similar to those of An insight into how stark and close relative U. humboldtii produce seed brick-red lateritic soil and the bare rock sur - U. reniformis in shape and size, reaching between exposed the location was which have partially developed embryos. The face covered with large bromeliads. The 50 and 80cm in length. The flowers were around “The heat and intense sunlight on that treeless purpose of this is so that when the seeds 6 – VCPS VCPS – 7 These pots were placed within a lidless plastic rounded as U.