NEWS
June Meeting
The June meeting was open to any genus of carnivorous plant. Kelly spoke about some of the plants she’s been propagating. She makes use of strawberry plastic containers to sow seed and take leaf pulls so she can provide the plants with humidity while they are small and then open the lid and harden the plant of as it gets larger. These containers have holes in the bottom so that they can drain when they’re watered. Kelly brought in some Nepenthes veitchii hybrid seedlings, which were very big for being less than a year old, as well as Pinguicula including P. laueana and P. sp. Pachuca. She also brought in a flytrap that was producing unusual crested leaves. Florian brought in a Drosera graomogolensis. This is a Brazilian rosetted species from State Minas Gerais. He also brought in some Sarracenia including S. psittacina and several S. purpurea. He has been groing these in square tube pots both to conserve space but also force the plants to send roots deep into the pot rather than spreading out.
The plants benched at the June meeting included:
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N. veitchii hybrids Pinguicula laueana Pinguicula sp Pachuca |
Drosera graomogolensis Sarracenia psittacina Sarracenia purpurea |
May Meeting
The theme for the May meeting was “Best and Worst Plants.” This is always a valuable meeting, as it gives members a chance to share not just their successes, but also the plants they’re struggling with. It’s a great way for everyone to learn more about how different carnivorous plants grow and what conditions can lead to better, or worse, results.
First place for Plant of the Night went to Justin’s Nepenthes rajah, a plant he grew from seed sown over 35 years, ago. For much of its life, it was neglected and remained small, but after recently improving its care and lighting, it has started to grow more strongly. The leaves have developed a red tint under artificial lighting, which Justin said is a sign of good light levels. In lower light, the leaves stay greener and softer, and growth slows down. Runner-up was Peter’s Pinguicula gypsicola × moctezumae, which had striking dark pink flowers. Peter also brought in several other Pinguicula hybrids, all in flower and looking healthy. Third place went to Florian’s Sarracenia purpurea, grown in a tall pot and watered from the top. It was in very good condition and showed strong growth. Florian also brought in a Pinguicula grandiflora that was dying back. This is expected at this time of year, as the plant goes dormant and forms a hibernaculum.
Steve brought in his best plants Nepenthes veitchii and N. ovata both of which he is growing are growing in his glasshouse and potted in a 1:1 cocochip and perlite mix. On the flip side, his Drosera whittakeri was showing leaf distortion, which he suspects might be due to issues with the sand in the mix. Kelly brought in a couple of Drosera from the Petiolaris-complex including D. lanata and D. broomensis which were growing well and flowering. These tropical sundews aren’t commonly seen in Victorian collections due to their need for hot and humid conditions throughout the year. Jason brought in a well-pitchered Nepenthes truncata × jacquelineae, a healthy Sarracenia hybrid, and Drosera aberrans from both Hamilton and Kangaroo Ground. His Drosera regia, however, was a smaller plant that’s currently struggling. This can be a challenging species for many people. The meeting concluded with Steve giving a demonstration of how to take Nepenthes cuttings.
The plants benched at the May meeting included:
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Dionaea muscipula Drosera aberrans Drosera broomensis Drosera lanata Drosera regia Drosera whittakeri Nepenthes ovata Nepenthes rajah Nepenthes truncata × jacquelineae Nepenthes veitchii |
Pinguicula agnata Pinguicula grandiflora Pinguicula gypsicola × moctezumae Pinguicula laueana × (moctezumae × emarginata) Pinguicula primuliflora Pinguicula superba Sarracenia leucophylla Sarracenia purpurea Sarracenia rosea |
April Meeting
Drosera was the topic plant for the April meeting. Commonly called sundews, this is a very large, diverse and widespread carnivorous plant genus and species within this taxon can is found on all continents except Antarctica. Steve's Drosera slackii was voted plant of the night and a couple of members brought in examples of this species. This a rosetted species from the Cape Provinces of South Africa. The plants will generally colour up very well in good light and, while it flowers well, it doesn't produces seed as readily as other rosetted South African Drosera commonly seen in cultivation, and normally needs to be hand pollinated to produce seed. Fortunately, it can be propagated easily from root and leaf cuttings. Second place went to another rosetted African sundew, Jason's Drosera venusta. Unlike Drosera slackii Jason said this species will self-pollinate and produce a lot of seed which germinate easily in both the parent pot as well as neighbouring pots if allowed to. Plants labelled as Drosera coccicaulis, as synonymous with this species. Coming in third place was Steve's red form of Drosera tubaestylis. This is a rosetted tuberous sundew from Western Australia. This species is one of the more forgiving tuberous Drosera in cultivation and grows and multiplies well from daughter tubers. While a lot of people have replaced sand in their mixes with perlite, Steve still recommends using Sand for tuberous Drosera as the open structure of perlite can lead to the tubers desiccating during dormancy
The plants benched at the April meeting included:
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Dionaea muscipula "G4 x G34" Drosera admirabilis Drosera aliciae Drosera capensis Drosera citrina Drosera praefolia |
Drosera sargentii Drosera slackii Drosera spatulata Drosera tubaestylus Drosera venusta Sarracenia leucophylla |
March Meeting
The topic plants for the March meeting were Nepenthes and Heliamphora. While Nepenthes is a tropical genus of pitcher plant, many of the highland species experience cool temperatures in the wild and can be grown in an unheated greenhouse in Melbourne or with some species and hybrids growing well outside if protected from frosts. Similarly, the majority of Heliamphora grow on the tepui of the Guiana Highlands in South America where temperatures are mild during the day with nightly drops into the single digits and will also grow well in Melbourne. Justin's Nepenthes x kinabaluensis was voted plant of the night. This is a natural hybrid of N. rajah and N. villosa that grows on Mt Kinabalu and the nearby Mt. Tambuyukon. Justin's plant came from Mt Tambuyukon and said it is much rarer at this location that Mt Kinabalu as the populations of the two parent species are found on opposite sides of the mountain. He has had it for 14 years and he said it grows very slowly. Equal place runner up for plant of the night went to Steve's N. platychila, a species that grows on the Hose Mountains in Sarawak and a N. lingulata hybrid. The later was raised from seed sown in 2017 from a N. lingulata pod but Steve said it's not the true species and is possibly a hybrid with N. izumiae.
The plants benched at the March meeting included:
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Bulbophyllum laxiflorum (orchid) Dionaea muscipula "Patches" Heliamphora folliculata Nepenthes x kinabaluensis Nepenthes lingulata hybrid |
Nepenthes minima Nepenthes platychila Nepenthes sanguinea Nepenthes singalana |
February Meeting
The topic plants for the February meeting were Venus flytraps and Sarracenia, two popular genera both beginner and experienced growers. While Dionaea is a monotypic genus, originating from a very restricted range in the Carolinas, a huge variety of plants of different shape, size and colour have been produced by breeding and selecting mutations in tissue culture and there were a lot of examples on the display from VFTs with giant traps like 'DCXL' and 'B52', to red forms like 'Akai Ryu', to oddities like 'Freaky Star', 'Chinese Dumpling' and 'Shell' with bizarrely shaped traps. Ron's VFT 'Waves' was voted VFT of the night. The edges of its traps were rippled with good red colouration inside the traps. 2nd place went to Ron's VFT 'Spider, with very long, thin petioles. Rons VFT 'Crocodile came in 3rd place. This is another unusual mutant with the edges of the petioles fusing directly to the trap, instead than narrowing to a thin stalk between the petiole the trap like most flytraps.
Sarracenia consist of between 8-11 species depending on taxonomic opinions and grow naturally from Texas through the easter states of the US and into Canada, with several introduced populations growing in Western USA and Europe. The wide array of pitcher sizes and shapes produced by the different species has led to hybrids that range from elegant to grotesque. Jason's S. purpurea ssp. venosa var montana was won Sarracenia of the night. This is one of the showier purps seen in collections with the plants producing compact clumps of often heavily veined pitchers. We had two equal runners Steve's S. purpurea ssp venosa, relic plant from North Carolina and Jason's S. flava f. Red Tube x alata f Cut Throat, which produces tall upright pitchers with very good red colouration.
The plants benched at the July meeting included:
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Heliamphora minor Sarracenia alabamensis x flava f Red Sarracenia alata Sarracenia flava f. Red Tube x alata f Cut Throat Sarracenia jonesii Sarracenia leucophylla Sarracenia minor Sarracenia popei Sarracenia psittacina Sarracenia purpurea ssp purpurea var heterophylla Sarracenia purpura var montana Sarracenia purpurea ssp purpurea Sarracenia purpurea ssp venosa VFT 'Akai Ryu' VFT 'AR Werewolf' VFT 'Big Teeth, Red Giant' VFT 'B52' VFT 'Bimbo' VFT 'Bloody Nurse' VFT 'Carboni Adente' VFT 'Creeping Death' x self VFT 'Chinese Dumpling' VFT 'Coquillage' |
VFT 'Coquillage' x self VFT 'Crocodile' VFT 'Cupped Traps' VFT 'DCXL' VFT 'Fake Dracula' VFT 'Fang' VFT 'Freaky Star' VFT 'Fused Tooth' VFT 'G16' x 'G14' VFT ('G16' x 'G14') x 'Big Tomato' VFT 'Low Giant': produces prostrate traps. VFT 'Microdent' x self VFT 'Paradisia' VFT 'Peroscope' VFT 'Patches' VFT 'Slacks Giant' x self VFT 'Spider' VFT 'Shell' VFT 'Tall' VFT 'T-Rex' VFT 'Wine Mouth' VFT 'V38' VFT 'Waves' |
