Northern most Drosera capillaris site found!

[meadowview]

Hi Folks:

We went out in the field on Friday and validated the occurrence of the northern most population of Drosera capillaris known. The site is pretty amazing since the population only occurs in an area of 20 x 50 feet and is on the piedmont province of Virginia and west of the City of Fredericksburg, VA in Spotsylvaia County. I am contacting the homeowners association and we are going to make some recommendations to ensure the colony is successfully managed. The sundew population is also going to offer some interesting research opportunities. You can see some photographs of the site on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Meadowview....49341218?ref=ts

Sincerely,

Phil Sheridan, Ph.D.
Director
Meadowview Biological
Research Station

 

[mksmith]

Phil,

Link above didnt seem to work.

You can find photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/Pitcherplants

 

[scottychaos]

cool!
are there ways you can tell that it is a natually occuring population?
(versus an "introduced" population?)

Scot

 

[meadowview]

Hi Scot:

Highly unlikely this is an introduced population for a number of reasons. First, Drosera capillaris is known to occur at this latitude in Delaware and Maryland. Second, there is a second population of Drosera capillaris near ours in a separate lake with a host of associate rare plants (discovered by our board member Dr. Robert Wright in 1995). The presence of significant rare plant associates lends great support to this being a native colony. Third, most folks simply aren't skilled enough to successfully establish a plant like this in an area of generally inhosputable soils. The colony has been there for a number of years in a very localized spot. Fourth, the phenotype of the plants is consistent with other northern populations (in contrast to a planted colony of larger North Caroline ot Florida plants). So.. while there of course is always the possibility of a plant being introduced the cumulative evidece makes a strong case for a native population.

Best,

Phil

 

[Wire Man]

Exciting news! I live very close to this new location.