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Drosera murfetii

  • #21
Hey all; Megan's friend here.

I grew up on and around Mt Ruapehu, home of many alpine species of Arcturi, Spatulata, some Binata and illegally introduced Pinguicula. I'm currently in the process of writing up some information on the true environment these plants grow in, as it's something I've studied for long before I got into CPs. This information that follows is about Alpine Arcturi.

I can't really comment on the Australian species of Arcturi or Murfetii, having never visited where they come from. The distinctions between the two are so blurred to me, in the same way that distinctions between D. Peltata and D. Auriculata are blurred to many, and in the same way there are no distinctions between D. Spatulata forms, even though they have varying sizes, flowers and environments. I do wonder if these people are trying to get their names in a paper by just bombarding us with numbers and nonsensical graphs; I digress.

To cut it short, alpine Arcturis don't spend 3 months of the year under snow, they are almost always in hot sun with cold roots and cold ambient temperature. Putting them in a fridge, freezer or block of ice will just make them rot. From experience they don't like to be indoors or in warm water, I've lost many to that mistake. They certainly do curl backwards and send out non-carnivorous leaves, interesting to see success in leaf cuttings, not something I've tried yet! They love the sun and lots of food. Both are necessary if you want gorgeous healthy plants, but you have to keep the roots cool, the ambient temperature cool, and the plant nice and snug from hot sun, that's the golden, but very tricky, rule!

It's my birthday today so I'm off to find more plants for my collection, but I'll let y'all know when I've finished the much longer version of this :)
 
  • #22
Thank you for the information, bluemutiny. This is more useful cultural info for D. arcturi, at least the alpine forms, than I have heard up until now.

Looking forward to anything new you will have to add. And happy birthday!
 
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  • #23
Well a belated Happy Birthday! If we had this information years ago perhaps the plants I had may still be alive. Seems like I did everything wrong. Sometimes you just have to make guesses based on whatever scant (and erroneous) information that is available at the time.

There was another grower from New Zealand who was attempting to grow D. arcturi and was able to visit some of the growing sites but she stopped posting.
 
  • #24
Thanks for the happy birthdays! :)

I've just been fluffing around in my alpine bog and decided it was about time to remove the Arcturi seed pods. I keep it very sheltered so that the wind and rain can't damage the plants, only giving it a light shower occasionally to wash away old bugs/dirt on the dew.

I've probably got about 1000 seeds in a bag and I'm now doing a sowing test, some directly on live sphagnum next to the cold-water outlet, some in the current location the Arcturus are growing (middle of the bog, not as cold), and some in the fridge with live sphagnum and a small layer of peat. I'm not counting the seeds sowed as I'm not interested in germination rate at this point and they're just too small for me to bother with.

The reason for this test is to find out the true and correct way of getting the Alpine variety to germinate and how long it takes. I've read too much online about how they need to be kept at or below freezing to germinate and I don't believe that's a reasonable expectation given the environments they come from; that and I've had about 15-20 seedlings pop up over our hot summer in the bog, no stratification at all.

I found even the NZCPS website says that they spend several months under snow each year. There is a possibility of this in the South Island, but I strongly believe it is an exception to the new rule I've decided on :)

Photo is but a tiny selection of seeds from one of the pods.



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  • #25
@bluemutiny - It will be interesting to hear the results of your tests! As Drosera seed goes those are not too small, ha! Thanks for the photo.
 
  • #26
@bluemutiny - It will be interesting to hear the results of your tests! As Drosera seed goes those are not too small, ha! Thanks for the photo.

haha yeah, I remember my D. auriculata seeds from end of last year, they were like dust!
 
  • #27
I am also interested to see the results of your tests. It is nice to see you experimenting with the Arcturi seed based on your experience. I have had similar experience with Drosophyllum (despite what the literature says) with seed sprouting in spring after being sown outside in late summer and left out in the elements all winter without any treatment/scarification; seed exposed to hot temps, torrential downpours, freezing temps, and even snow cover at times over winter.
 
  • #28
I think that even with plants that are commonly grown there is a lot of misinformation floating around, albeit well-intentioned misinformation. It is good that there are those who are willing to take some risks and actually test what we think we know.
 
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  • #29
It's growing season here again and everything is waking up. My Arcturi are coming back strong for their third season, however my germination test ended up being a complete failure due to a bird digging up some moss in my bog and clogging the outlet - Shortly after it rained and the bog flooded, meaning the seeds were dispersed from their correct locations. C'est la vie!

There are several new Arcturi popping up around the old ones (I guess from either dispersed seeds in the flood or just what dropped from last season's flowers). To me this suggests, given the bog has not been exposed to frost or any significant cold, that they don't necessarily need alpine-esque stratification.
 
  • #30
Fascinating thread, and one that is of great relevance to me now that I am the proud owner of these two tiny D. murfetii seedlings.



From what I understand (upon reading of this thread), is that southeast Alaska may actually be an ideal clime for D. arcturi.

I wonder if, ultimately, the outdoor climate here could be viable for D. murfetii as well. Right now I have these babies inside under my lights, with a good portion of the rest of my highland tropical carnivorous plants. I hope that I can nurse them to a larger size where they can potentially go outside in the bog one day.

Wish me luck.

Alos, kudos to bluemutiny for the great information - I would be absolutely intrigued to see some pictures of the Kiwi muskeg you got over there. It sounds awesome.
 
  • #31
My experiences relate to mainland Australian populations of D. arcturi and not relevant to comments above regarding NZ north island forms.

I can confirm that the populations here do experience at least 3 months of the year where they are buried beneath a significant amount of snow. As far as I am aware, the Tasmanian D. murfetii experiences similar conditions in winter, albeit often at lower altitudes.
 
  • #32
good luck! How old is that plant, do you know?
 
  • #33
D. murfetii flowers in cultivation

'About time for some news on this subject.

After a cool winter in the window of my garage, under lights, I discovered that not only has my plant produced two basal sprouts but it was also producing a flower stalk. Several weeks later the first of the flowers has opened.

mini-P5058939 - Copy.jpg

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This first flower has been open continuously for over 24 hours now and is about the size of a US dime. The other two of the three buds seem to be developing quickly now. The reading I have done gives me hope of producing viable seed without having a different clone to cross this plant with. We will see.
 
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  • #34
Great freaking job Mark! Thanx for posting the flower pics. Crap, now I want to try again with this species, haha. If anyone can be successful pollinating the flowers and getting seed my money is on you to pull it off.
 
  • #35
Fantastic! How long are the leaves now? My plant definitely put on a lot of size last year and am hoping to see flowers next year at this rate.
 
  • #36
Thanks, Dj. Very kind of you!

Nimbulan - The longest leaf the plant has produced this year is about 5" long but most are closer to 3". I may sacrifice the longest one to propagating more little ones. You have to be judicious in taking cuttings from this species, as I'm sure you know. They just don't produce that many leaves.
 
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