Drosera and seeds?

[dustin]

Hello Tf,

i had a question regarding drosera i guess cultivars/clones? So as far as i know you can get seeds from various drosera, but what do you call the seed that a specific cultivar/clone makes?

example: drosera capensis, (typical, alba, red, broadleaf)

i think i read somewhere that all cultivars or clones are a result of mutation. but if say drosera capenis red flowers and produces seed, there is the chance of the plant not looking anything like its parents.

other examples: drosera spatulata(fraser island, typical) forms, drosera burmannii(beerwah, typical, hongkong red, red giant) forms

if i was to grow these from seed and continue to grow the offspring of say multiple clones all together would i eventually just call them one species? or how are these seeds id'd?

Please correct me if they arent cultivars?

just a question i was thinking about

thanks

dustin

 

[Not a Number]

Here we go again...

International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, 2004
Chapter II, Definitions. Article 2.2
A cultivar is an assemblage of plants that has been selected for a particular attribute or combination of attributes that is clearly distinct, uniform and stable in these characteristics and that when propagated by appropriate means retains those characteristics.

How to name a cultivar
DO I HAVE A NEW CULTIVAR?
You have a new cultivar and you wish to name it. First check that you do actually have a cultivar. A single plant is not a cultivar: a cultivar is a group of individual plants which collectively is distinct from any other, which is uniform in its overall appearance and which remains stable in its attributes. Do not attempt to name a cultivar until you have a number of individuals that are uniform and stable. Now convince yourself that your cultivar is really worth naming; there is no point in going through the process of naming your cultivar if it is not an improvement on others.

There are different sorts of cultivar ranging from clones, which should be genetically identical, to tightly controlled seed-raised cultivars such as F1 hybrids. Article 2 of the Code describes some of the different kinds of cultivar.

The only way you can check if your cultivar is new and distinct is by comparing it with existing cultivars. Your new cultivar must be distinguishable from others that exist or have existed.

Denise Adams of the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Ohio State University says it best:

The Language of Horticulture
cultivar. The term cultivar was coined by Liberty Hyde Bailey in the first part of the century from 'cultivated variety.' This term is defined as 'an assemblage of cultivated plants which is clearly distinguishable by any characters (morphological, physiological, cytological, chemical, or other) and which, when reproduced sexually or asexually retains its distinguishing characters.' (International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, 1980).

A cultivar may be propagated sexually or asexually. Cultivars may be produced from seed and therefore may exhibit some variation in traits other than that for which the selection was made. For example, Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead Dwarf' is a lavender selected for its dwarf habit. Even if seed grown, all plants so named should not exceed 18 inches in height, but may show slight variation in flower or foliage color, habit, etc. In order for all Munstead cultivars to be identical, or clones, they would have to be propagated asexually from cuttings. Many people do not realize that 'cultivar' is not synonymous with 'clone.'

There are only two registered cultivars of Drosera capensis: Drosera capensis 'Albino' and Drosera capensis 'Narrow Leaf'. The characteristics are stable across seed generations as the are with "Alba", "Red" etc. Most likely these are forms or varieties, not mutations.

Drosera burmannii "Beerwah" is the location in Queensland, Australia where it was found. I'm only aware of the green form (of which "Beerwah" is one) and the red or reddish forms. The waters are muddied since it is difficult to distinguish D. burmannii from D. sessilifolia. To make matters worse the two species are cross-fertile.

D. spatulata is so polymorphic that they acquire "tags" to refer to location or some feature. Take away the fancy name and it is often impossible tell many of them apart.

If a plant should only be cloned that information should have been passed on to you when you obtained the plant. If it wasn't I would avoid that source in the future.

A good place to start in the Carnivorous Plant Database. If the plant is a registered cultivar it should be obvious from the description if it is a clone and the propagation instructions should state that it should only be propagated vegetatively.

Another good source is to look up the plant on the Carnivorous Plant Photo Finder. If there is anything remarkable about a plant it is often noted.

 

[dustin]

Thanks for the info ill look through those links now

i completely forgot about location can make the difference, so that was a little dumb miistake of mine

well this is a hybrid but i have a d. marston dragon which i found is, binata dichotoma "Giant" x binata multifida 'extrema', and its flowering now, do i call the offspring marston dragon? or as i think you said, if the plant is a registered clone...it should be propagated vegetativly which i get, because usually cultivars are a single clone of a plant.

though then i remember n. caesar being seed grown cultivars, produced from 2 select parent plants. So the only way to produce a cultivar via seed is to have the 2 original plants that created the cultivar?

ill have to look into buying a book, has anyone read a good book that goes in depth regarding cultivar, clones? ill take a look around and see what i can fine

thanks
dustin