natural Drosera filiformis X tracyi hybrid

[Randy Zerr]

pics not showing up here. anyone else?

[reptiluvr]

Try now. Despite resizing them on photobucket they seem to be showing up HUGE, sorry.

[Randy Zerr]

Fascinating. They do indeed look like D. tracyi from what I can tell from the pictures. What county are these in? Were there many plain green plants?

[reptiluvr]

They were in Liberty County. I only had time to photograph this single plant before running back to the car away from a nasty storm approaching but all around this plant were the typical D. tracyi with colorless glandular hairs and a few with these red/purple glandular hairs. Is there another diagnostic feature other than the all red coloration to differentiate D. tracyi and D. filiformis in the field?

[Randy Zerr]

Besides the coloration, tracyi is much larger, has shorter, more compact tentacles and the leaves taper to a point more abruptly.
Your plants do appear to me to be tracyi with red glands. I have seen tracyi in the field with just the slightest pink tint to the glands, but nothing like this.

[Brian Barnes]

Hey Friends,

Hmmmm....sounds like the mentioned Drosera tracyi colonies are finally old enough (from many, many years of cross and self pollinating on site) to begin their chromosomal changes, which is resulting in increased anthocyanin production and morphing into their new Drosera filiformis form. ;D Just a pet theorum I've entertained for years...
It only takes one....chromosome, that is. Which would explain the presence of a few "genetically younger" D. tracyi plants still present at the D. filiformis "red" site that aren't fully changed yet...

Interesting indeed. Are the glands truly red in the photos or just pink with high contrast applied? Really cool stuff.

Happy Growing,

Brian.

[reptiluvr]

These pics are pretty accurate in color reproduction. From a few feet away it appears there's a purplish haze along the edges. Anyone want to share a filiformis locale so I can go find them this summer? Thats probably asking a lot but it can't hurt to try!

[Randy Zerr]

sure no problem,
you can get all the locations I know from my notebook and maps when you pry them from my cold dead fingers
Let me know when you want to go. I will be making another trip in a couple weeks or so.

[BarryRice]

Hey all,

A great discussion. Phil, while it is indeed possible that Drosera filiformis var. tracyi has been introduced to the red Florida plant site, they've been observed together for at nearly 20 years to date. The oldest record I have found of them being reported together come from Loran Anderson's observations in 1990.

A very interesting group of plants, and unless I get scooped, I'll be establishing a name for them soon.

Cheers

Barry

[BarryRice]

Randy,

Would you be willing to review my document working on the red Florida filiformis? I'd be happy to get your feedback on it. I've already coerced Brian Barnes to look at it, since he's had a lot of experience with these plants in cultivation as well as having seen the plants with me last year.

By the way, in the summer of 2010, my lovely wife and I are planning on returning to the panhandle to see, among other things, the lovely red filiformis plants. Maybe you'd be around to show us your giant Utricularia purpurea plants?

B

[meadowview]

Hi Barry:

Thanks for the information that Drosera trayci has been there since at least 1990. I look forward to reading more about this interesting population.

Sincerely,

Phil Sheridan
Meadowview

[Randy Zerr]

I'm here. Been away from the forum mostly due to other activities.
Yes. I'd be happy to look at your writing. You have my email. Let me know when you are coming.

[mbfmark]

This is an old thread, but I thought that I might add my observations about Drosera hybrids from my own large bog garden in which I have all the varieties of D. filiformis, plus D. rotundifolia, D. intermedia, and D. capillaris all naturalized and reproducing themselves in abundance. After years of this activity, I only today noticed the first hybrid between D. tracyi and D. filiformis 'Florida Red,' - although it obviously germinated last year and went unnoticed until this spring because it is reaching adult size already. It looks exactly like the photos - a pinkish/orangish cast and more robust than D. filiformis 'Florida Red' - more like D. tracyi in size. The point is, this is the FIRST hybrid I have observed even though all the above species and variants are growing side by side and totally intermixed all over the 60' x 40' growing area. I've even tried to cross pollinate some myself without seeing any hybrid offspring. So it shows that D. tracyi and D. filiformis 'Florida Red' could grow side by side for years and produce few if any hybrids. For me at least, D. tracyi flowers only once in the growing season, while D. filiformis ssp. filiformis and 'Florida Red' continue to flower all season long. Also I note that there also has been no hybrids between the other species - I had to go and buy some D. x hybrida from Meadowview just of have them - even though I have literally thousands of the two parents growing intermingled all over the bog garden. So it seems Drosera hybrids are very rare even if the different types are growing intermingled and readily available for cross pollination.

One other note: I live at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in extreme northwestern SC and our winters can have some notable cold snaps. This year, we hit 5F and went into the teens at night numerous times in January. Yet, both D. tracyi and D. filiformis 'Florida Red' went through these conditions without being killed. The 'Florida Red' form is in fact the most successful Drosera in the garden, reproducing itself far quicker than D. tracyi or D. filiformis ssp. filiformis that originated in New Jersey. Only D. intermedia comes close, though many of its hibernacula make it through winter only to be killed by late freezes as they start to unfurl (lucikly there are always volumes of new seedlings). The hibernacula of the 'Florida Red' filiformis seem impervious to freeze damage, even after they have started to unfurl, surviving unscathed through 19 degrees at the end of February and 23 degrees in mid-March (they are always anxious to get started). So I have to chuckle when I read warnings that D. filiformis 'Florida Red' is particularly tender and should be dug up and overwintered in a frost free location. The growing season is only a few weeks old yet I have large plants already 6 inches tall all over the bog garden, and in some places the substrate is literally red with tiny seedlings which obviously germinated while nights were still near freezing. The hibernacula of D. tracyi always survive too, but they wait until almost May to begin to grow much so by then hard freezes are done for us.