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Drosera brevifolia

FrankenSnyder

FrankenSnyder

A new generation of my Louisiana Lawn Sundew, Drosera brevifolia. An old friend of mine got it from his neighbor’s lawn. So tiny and cute. Already forming a flower. A great easy little plant for growing indoors under artificial light. This one is more green than another form I have from North Carolina and a bit smaller.
D.brev LA 8.5.24.jpg
 
I like 'Louisiana Lawn Sundew' - ha! I grow this one, too and I'm surprised it is so rare in cultivation. I'm pretty sure my little pot contains plants that are over a year old but I haven't really kept track. Perhaps it is possible to keep them for longer than a single year with the right conditions.
 
"It's only an annual if you grow it as one."

I agree. It seems likely that it is a biennial or similar when grown for longer terms but Panman's advice to collect seeds is very good advice. I'd like to see the seed available in more carnivorous plant seed banks.
 
Thanks all. The first generation did indeed waste away after making seed. Forms of brevifolia from different areas I’ve grown are variable. My larger NC form is facultatively eternal in my care. Kept track of one for 4 years. One sundew I am convinced is programed to die is D. glanduligera. And, it cannot be reproduced by leaf cuttings. This Louisiana plant is special to me because it actually came from a residential lawn. Neat story. But I expect my larger more red NC form will be more popular. A CPer I knew named Tom stopped at a diner in Hampstead NC in 1992 and found the plant there on the roadside and got seed. Lost contact with Tom.
 
So - there are true annual forms of D. brevifolia and also true perennial forms? That's kind of mind-blowing.
 
Not sure yet. Either way, it’s a tiny species with annual life cycle. Though there may be forms less strictly so, I am satisfied with the species described as annual. Things grow differently in my indoor setup than in the wild. I keep Spring conditions all year long; unchanged photoperiod. My VFTs grow constantly and do not flower. Anyone growing brevifolia outdoors? The LA brevifolia were shipped to me live and so maybe stressed. We’ll see how this seed grown generation does.
 
I grow mine in the garage window, which is a kind of half-and-half growing area. It has led lights AND natural light and it is heated enough in winter to keep it above freezing, mostly, but no a.c. in summer. The screened window is open all summer but closed in the winter. It has proven to be a versatile compromise. The D. brevifolia bloom in warmer times and pretty much stop growing in mid-winter, though they seem undamaged by the cooler temps.
 
  • #10
I received mine last November from a guy in NC that said they grow wild in his yard. The plants are quite small. They have gone to seed a couple times now. I collected seed from the first pods but not from any others. I will have to sow them to see if they hit. I have grown under lights since receiving. I was going to move outside soon but I might wait now to be sure I get strikes from the seeds.
 
  • #12
Very neat! I've found the plants can survive flowering and don't die off indoors. I think it's all a matter of getting fed enough and not too extreme conditions (heat, light). I will say that plants that have seemingly died from stress will sprout pups from the roots (see below). I have successfully reproduced these plants from both leaf AND root cuttings, and I suspect this suggests they are not really annuals but just finnicky plants that are too small for their own good.
Dbrevifoliaroot.jpg
These plants have been admittedly light stressed lately as they grow on an east facing window with supplemental strong LED lighting - I've cut back the timed photoperiod lately so they're recovering. This is not an intentional root cutting - it's pups growing back from a "dead" rosette.
 
  • #13
Surprising such a tiny plant can do that.

My LA brevifolia is forming seed capsules though the flowers did not open. Seems my LA form wants more light and a bit drier conditions than my NC form. In more light it would become darker red.

Interestingly, Peter D ’Amato’s book The Savage Garden tells a story that brevifolia has sometimes been found growing in the damp cracks of sidewalks in Houston Texas during wet years. I’m skeptical, but it would be a good experiment to test. Drosera36, maybe you could try it in your Florida neighborhood.
 
  • #14
It's worth mentioning that D. brevifolia seeds are now available from the ICPS Seed Bank. They may not last long.
 
  • #15
bluemax said:
It's worth mentioning that D. brevifolia seeds are now available from the ICPS Seed Bank. They may not last long.
Click to expand...
(y)

Late breaking news: I discovered yesterday a minute plant sprouting from a tiny seedling’s root which had broken off during transplanting. Incredible.
 
  • #16
I am constantly amazed at the ability of sundews to regenerate plants from bits of tissue. But they have to be given growing conditions that they like to do so. 'Suggests a way to keep a population of D. brevifolia going from year to year without any seeds at all.
 
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