ISSN 1033-6966 VICTORIAN CARNIVOROUS PLANT SOC IETY Inc. December 2005 No. 78 Utricularia inaequalis Utricularia multifida Utricularia petertaylorii Pinguicula leptoceras Drosera moorei Nepenthes dubia Nepenthes aristolochioides Drosera erythrorhiza ssp. squamosa Cephalotus follicularis VICTORIAN CARNIVOROUS VICTORIAN CARNIVOROUS PLANT SOC IETY Inc. PLANT SOC IETY Inc. Issue No. 78 December 2005 Annual Subscriptions Office Bearers: July 2005 – June 2006 Australian membership $20.00 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 Cephalotus follicularis . Photographed in the wild at VICTORIAN CARNIVOROUS P LANT SOC IETY Walpole by Richard Nunn. BACK COVER: This year we have scheduled the following discussion topics, and events: Clockwise from top left: January (14th) New Year BBQ, Darlingtonia, Dionaea. I Utricularia inaequalis , grown and photographed by Sean February (22nd) Sarracenia species and hybrids, beginners night. Spence. (22nd) Nepenthes and Heliamphora . I Utricularia multifida , grown and March One of the largest flowers in its’ genus, Drosera pauciflora ’s photographed by Sean Spence. flowers can reach 6-7cm in diameter. Photo: Stephen Fretwell April (26th) Drosera , video and information night. I Utricularia petertaylorii , grown and photographed by Sean May (24th) Growing conditions, pygmy Drosera gemmae Spence. collection, 'best' and 'worst' plants. I Nepenthes dubia , grown by Fieldtrip to Hoppers Crossing & Anglesea 6 Richard Nunn, photographed June (28th) AGM, plant give-away, any CPs. by Stephen Fretwell July (26th) Seed growing, tissue culture and potting Gardening Australia Festival 10 I Drosera erythrorhiza ssp. demonstration, any CPs. squamosa photographed in the wild near Perth along the August (23rd) Tuberous/Winter growing Drosera , show Growing annual south western WA Brookton Hwy by Richard Nunn. preparation, displays, and companion planting. Utricularia species from seed 12 I Nepenthes aristolochioides , September (27th) Cephalotus , Brocchinia, Catopsis and swap night. grown by Richard Nunn. October (29th) Field trip to Triffid Park (Sunday afternoon, A summary of the methods used to I Pinguicula leptoceras grown and photographed by Stephen commencing with barbecue lunch) Pinguicula propagate non-tuberous Drosera 16 Fretwell. and pygmy Drosera. I Drosera moorei (centre) grown November (22nd) Byblis, Drosophyllum, Genlisea, Roridula, Utricularia. and photographed 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 authors and are open to review and debate. Please send all material to Printed by: be on the FOURTH WEDNESDAY of the month in the hall of the Pilgrim Uniting the editor for consideration to be included in our quarterly journal. Snap Printing (Box Hill) Church in Yarraville – corner Bayview Road and Montague Street, Melway Map Reference 41K7. 4 – VCPS VCPS – 5 Crossing which was known to contain large populations of the aquatic Utricularia australis . I had discovered the plants growing in December of the previous year whilst searching for the flowers of Utricularia beau - gleholei with Greg Bourke. We were hoping that the U. australis would be flowering as the water level had gradually receded. Upon arriving at the open swamp it didn’t take long to locate the U. australis . The U. australis left stranded on a high mud flat. swamp had dried considerably since I was last there and many of the Utricularia were growing on dried ground. Upon lifting some of the dried specimens we discovered that they had formed small turions on the under - sides. The turions were produced on growth points of various lengths, some up to 5cms long. The turions had been pushed into the soil by the plant, an adaptation to survive the remainder of the hot dry sum - mer. Previously we had assumed that this Turions forming from the stem of U. australis. Utricularia australis in flower at the wetlands at Hoppers Crossing. species only produced the turions in response to the cooler weather of winter. It Fieldtrip to Hoppers Crossing and Anglesea in was interesting to discover a new adapta - tion of these storage organs. search of Utricularia australis and Drosera binata As we headed further into the wetland the water became deeper and the U. australis SEAN SPENCE. with areas of swampland – both perfect became more prevalent. The depth of the habitats for CPs. n January of 2005 George Caspar, water in most areas was about 20-30cms I had last seen D. binata at Anglesea and teeming with aquatic life. Many flowers Steve Fretwell and I decided to revisit back in the late 1980s following a bush - were apparent however most had been the Anglesea area in an attempt to George with a leech found in the wetlands. I fire that had cleared out the large swamp damaged by rains received in previous days. locate populations of Drosera binata . The that dominates the Anglesea river valley. The rains, combined with intensely hot days Freeway and through Geelong we arrived at seaside town of Anglesea is famous for Since that time the area had become following, had left the flowers with tears and our turn off, a few kilometres before the its sandy heathland that abounds in increasingly overgrown by Gleichenia blemishes. Eventually we managed to find a Anglesea township. We headed down Forest native wildflowers including many native fern which had made penetration of the few specimens with perfect flowers of which Rd until we found a small dirt track called carnivorous plant and orchid species. undergrowth surrounding the swamp many photos were taken. Having achieved Shiney-Eye track. This track heads down to After years of lobbying, the surround - virtually impossible. our aim in finding flowers of U. australis we the swamp and is recommended only for 4 x ing area is gazetted to become a We headed off to the area early in the headed off to the seaside town of Anglesea 4 vehicles – as George in one of his previous National Park in the near future. The morning after George and Steve arrived in an attempt to find D. binata and other journal articles can attest. Unlike our previ - area is characterised by low heathland at my house. On the way we had decided summer growing CPs. ous trip to the spot, which was incredibly vegetation with sandy soils combined to check out a swamp near Hoppers After a 45 minute drive down the Princes muddy, this time the area was very dry. We 6 – VCPS VCPS – 7 they were well past their best. After much searching we failed to locate any more plants on this side of the track. We then crossed over to the western side. Instantly this seemed a more likely area for finding CPs. The ground was much moister and the creek seemed to be wider and more open. Before long we found large patches of D. binata carpeting the ground. The plants were not large, only around 10-15 cms in The habitat at Anglesea where height. These had also passed their best. D. binata, U. dichotoma and U. lateriflora grow. The further we searched the more we found and as we headed down towards the Drosera binata T-form. Utricularia dichotoma . Utricularia lateriflora. stream we began to notice the small delicate, pale purple flowers of Utricularia lateriflora also had the luxury of a larger 4 x 4 should Road. We turned left and headed back into covering the ground. These plants were only the environment become too rugged. the bushland. It wasn’t long before we small – averaging about 7 cms in height but Shiney-Eye track is one of a series of passed another seasonal track called they were in full flower and quite attractive tracks which criss-cross the sandy conserva - Allardyce track. This was a track I had never in their own right. tion area. Most of these tracks are accessi - travelled down before and had no idea what I then decided to head further towards the ble year round however there are a few to expect. After a short drive through very centre of the stream where the ground was which head down to the swamp that are sandy soils we hit the top of a hill overlook - very wet and peaty.