Utric sandersonii "blue" vs "white"

[menschenjaeger]

Has anyone ever compared "blue" to the description in Taylor? Particularly the traps? Does Taylor mention both? (I haven't gotten around to picking up the monograph yet, but it's on my short list). The two just seem SO different to me - is it me, or are the leaves quite different? I know there are very variable species out there, but if sandersonii has such a small range...? The more sprawling nature of "blue" and the very different pattern on the lower lip of the corolla really bother me, too. I've seen many threads hinting at opinions that they're the same (or different) but no specifics. I have also yet to peruse back issues of the CPL, so this information might be there as well, for all I know.

In the succulent hobby, many times "mystery plants" can be at least tracked back to a certain dealer, or even a first mention in a newsletter, and the carnivorous plant hobbyists seem every bit as obsessive as us ;-), so does anyone have any ideas as to when the blue form first appeared in cultivation?

[ICPS-bob]

Interesting question. Taylor makes no distinction between typical and blue versions. He describes the corolla to be "white or very pale mauve".

Small, perennial lithophyte. Rhizoids few, capillary, simple, a few mm long, c. 0.15 mm thick. Stolons numerous, capillary, branched, up to 5 cm long or longer, 0.25 mm thick. Leaves numerous, a few from the peduncle base and others scattered on the stolons, petiolate, the lamina cuneate, obovate or flabellate, 1-6 mm wide, with apex rounded, entire or crenulate, and with numerous, dichotomously branching nerves; total length up to 15 mm. Traps numerous on the stolons and leaves, ovoid, stalked, 1-1.5 mm long, the mouth terminal with a rounded dorsal appendage, the ventral lip scarcely projecting, both dorsal appendage and ventral lip with radiating, comblike rows of stipitate glands. Inflorescence erect, simple, solitary, 2-6 cm long; peduncle terete, c. 0.6 mm thick, glabrous. Scales few or absent, similar to the bracts but smaller. Bracts basifixed, narrowly deltoid or oblong, with apex acute, c. 1 mm long. Bracteoles similar but narrower. Flowers 1-4, distant, secund, the floral internodes slightly curved; pedicels capillary, terete, 1.5-3 mm long, spreading in flower, deflexed in fruit. Calyx lobes unequal, the upper lobe approximately circular, with apex rounded, c. 2 mm long, and with a few simple nerves, the lower lobe somewhat smaller, ovate, with apex retuse, emarginate or obscurely tridentate. Corolla 10-15 mm long, white or very pale mauve with darker mauve markings on the upper lip and at the base of the lower lip; upper lip constricted near the base, the inferior part broadly ovate, the superior part cuneate, deeply divided into two divergent lobes; lower lip limb approximately circular, the base with two raised, longitudinal, transversely wrinkled crests, the apex rounded; palate margin pubescent; spur subulate, with apex acute, curved, 2-3 times as long as the lower lip. Filaments curved, c. 1 mm long, the anther thecae subdistinct. Ovary globose; style short; stigma lower lip semicircular, the upper lip much smaller, deltoid. Capsule globose, c. 2 mm long, the wall membranous, dehiscing by a single ventral, longitudinal, marginally thickened slit. Seeds transversely ellipsoid, c. 0.8 mm long.

Although he does provide citations to

U. treubii Kamienski in Ann. lard. Bot. Buitenz., Suppl. 2: 143 (1898). Type: South Africa, Pondoland, Imkerene R., Bachmann (B holo.).
U. sandersonii Oliver var. treubii (Karnienski) Kamienski in Engler, Bot. Jahrb. 33: 106 (1902).

I wonder if those might be the "blue" versions.

[menschenjaeger]

Thanks, ICPS-bob.

I'd love to compare the traps of the two....