Carniflora Australis Journal of the Australasian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. Number 5, March 2005 32 ISSN 1448-9570 PRICE $5.00 Free with Membership Notes to contributors Subscription Contributions including articles, letters, photographs and drawings to the journal are greatly appreciated and may be forwarded to the societies postal address or online. All members, single, family and overseas $AU25.00 The views expressed in this journal are of the authors not necessarily those of the Australasian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. Please make cheques or money orders payable to the Australasian Carnivo- rous Plant Society Inc. Membership and correspondence should be forwarded Contributions to the journal may be submitted on 3.5inch (PC) disc, CD or by email. to the Secretary at Use Microsoft Word whenever possible. For instructions on submitting photographs and diagrams please contact the editor ([email protected]). Contact details are preferred for publication but may be excluded by the authors request. www.carniflora.com Articles may be reproduced with written permission from the society. Photographs PO BOX 4009 and drawings remain copyright of the author and may not be reproduced without the Kingsway West NSW 2208 (Australia) author’s permission. Dedicated to Conservation and Education Meeting are held on the second Friday of each month Time: 7.30pm—10.00pm © Australasian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. 2003 Venue: Woodstock Community Centre Church St, Burwood Two years ago, I have moved to a these plants require very little wa- Ph. 4684 3478 more coastal area near Wollongong tering. Next time you take cuttings where humidity is always quite of your favourite Nepenthes hybrid, high and temperature fluctuations stick a few in the garden and see Contents are relatively small. Winter temps what happens. Front Page: Cephalotus follicularis. Greg Bourke range between 5ºC and 15ºC and Back Page: Darlingtonia californica. Jim Forshey summer temps between 15ºC and 35ºC. This has allowed me to grow Title Author Page many hybrids and some species in the ground. I now have a total of 11 Yuragir National Park Dan Clark 4 hybrids and three species planted South Western Australia - The coastal Greg Bourke 8 straight into the soil. The results plains have been great. What’s most inter- My life as a carnivorous plant wife Michelle Leer 23 esting is what each particular plant has been targeting in relation to A visit to the Darlingtonia State Natural Jim Forshey 25 prey. Nepenthes ventricosa and its Site hybrids like snails, Nepenthes Propagation of Catopsis berteroniana Greg Bourke 29 khasiana and Nepenthes khasiana x alata targets ants and Nepenthes Nepenthes in the Garden Greg Bourke 30 alata has been catching small bush cockroaches. Once established in the ground Nepenthes hybrids 2 31 Nepenthes in the garden UPCOMING SPEAKERS AND EVENTS Greg Bourke Date Subject Speaker Sydney [email protected] 8th July Slides from Cairns Greg Bourke Over the years my Nepenthes col- 12th August General Discussion lection has grown and valuable space in the glass and shade houses 9th September Pinguicula Helmut Kibellis have forced the hybrids out. I’ve always been reluctant to part with 14th October Tissue Culture Fiona Chadwick plants so I began experimenting 11th November Borneo Greg Bourke with them in the garden. At first I tried a few of the hardy hybrids like 26th November Christmas Swap Meet Richard Sullivan’s House Nepenthes ‘Rokko’ and Nepenthes x ventrata with good success. I pre- 9th December General Discussion Committee 2005 President: Greg Bourke Vice President: Kirstie Wulf Nepenthes ventricosa x ovata Secretary: Jessica Biddlecombe pared the soil then by mounding a Treasurer: Steve Moyle mixture of Orchid Bark, Sphagnum Moss and Peat Moss with a water- Committee Members: Peter Biddlecombe ing system misting the surface daily. The reason for mounding the Richard Sullivan soil was that I thought the natural soil below would be too rich and Kirstie Wulf kill the plants. I soon realised that this was not true as the plants Helmut Kibellis quickly reached this soil and took Luis Mendoza off. Nepenthes ventricosa x ovata Robert Pollet 30 3 a callus (Figure 2). The pup was Yuragir National Park then tied to a cork branch where it Dan Clark soon developed roots and attached Canberra itself to the branch (Figure 3). Email: [email protected] I have continued the same process I was fortunate enough to spend a southwest Western Australia. three times and now only six few weeks over Christmas 2004 Sandy soils predominate near the months since I bought the plant, I basking in the sun at my partner’s coast, developed on dunes formed have three plants. At the time of folks place on the NSW north coast. during the last ice age. Peaty or- writing, the parent was producing Not to miss a chance at some bota- ganic soils are common between two more pups bringing the total to nising I took every opportunity to dunes (Figure 1). I’d not been able five. I had no idea that this would visit the nearby Yuragir National to find any flora species list for the be so successful and now believe Park. This park protects very large national park, so I went in with an that I may be able to get up to five areas of coastal heath and Banksia open mind and visited as many eco- more pups before the parent plant scrub that reminds me strongly of logical niches as possible. runs out of energy. Figure 2. Recently removed pup with callused base. Roots not yet forming. new generation to take over so why not leave the pup on? I removed the first pup at about 5cm high. To do this I removed the outer leaf exposing the pup and then tore the pup downwards to take some of the parents tissue with it. I then placed the pup vertically Figure 3. A six month old plant in the on the bench out of full sun and foreground firmly attached to the cork Figure 1. Heathlands in Yuragir National Park (Emma for scale). fairly dry until the base had formed branch with younger pup behind. 4 29 After only ten minutes walking curiously asymmetric – there was Propagation of Catopsis berteroniana along a coastal track I made my fist certainly scope for more points, but Greg Bourke discovery – a smattering of crimson maybe on another day. Sydney red Drosera spatulata growing on [email protected] an animal track through the heath. Subsequent trips to the various More was to come further along the swampy areas over the coming days Last year while in Victoria I ob- track as it crossed a shallow gully succeeded in introducing me to the tained a single plant from the Bro- clothed in heath up to knee height. local wildlife, comprising mainly of meliaceae family Catopsis bertero- Where the gully met coastal cliffs hungry mozzies. Drosera binata niana, an epiphytic species from and the water table approached the was quite common in the peatier South America. A few days after I surface a tangled profusion of coral areas on the dune slopes got it home I noticed that the centre ferns grew. In amongst the dense (presumably water seeps out from of the plant had begun to rot. foliage I spied a splash of red which the base of the dunes), and to a Knowing a little about Bromeliads I resolved itself into a Drosera lesser extent on swamp flats, but knew that the plant was surely binata leaf! My excitement grew only where coral ferns were abun- doomed if I did not do something. I as I counted thirty points – a dant. As with the first day, the had never been able to save a plant Drosera binata var. multifida f. plants grow amongst a dense layer in the past once the centre had be- extrema for sure! of heath plants up to 2ft high, with gun to rot but I had an idea. only the leaf visible. One particular Clambering around in the scrub swamp was a gold mine of division I began destroying my plant by re- near to the track revealed a few with several plants spotted sporting moving the leaves that were rotten more leaves with a similar point over forty points. The most divided which meant the centre two or three count. Many displayed a beautiful example I found had 56 points! leaves. These are the ones that symmetry, resembling coral or ant- (Figure 3). I found it almost im- came without too much force. I Figure 1. Pup forming in the leaf axial lers (Figure 2). The growing possible to count the points in situ, then poked a hole through the cen- of the parent plant points of these plants were safely so the leaf dutifully followed me tre of the plant and out its base so hidden from the harsh salt spray as to drain any water from the cen- the species. and hot drying summer sun beneath tre of the plant. I hoped this would the tangle mass of vegetation. The prevent the heart from rotting fur- Most growers of Bromeliads leave petioles were surprisingly delicate, ther. Water could still be held in the pups on the parent plant until they with the weight of laminas being leaf axials preventing dehydration. are one third the size of the parent almost completely supported by then remove it and pot it up. This vegetation. With other commit- After a week, the Catopsis had be- drains energy from the parent and ments pending a quick wander off gun to develop a pup from within restricts its ability to produce more the main path along a wallaby track the leaf axial of the outermost leaf pups.