# Drosera rotundifolia in the north



## naoki (Jun 24, 2016)

It is not an orchid, but there are a couple people interested in carnivorous plants here. We were morel-hunting last week-end, but instead of morels, my son found this:




Drosera rotundiflora on Flickr

From herbarium records, there are a couple records from further north (Kobuk Valley National park around the Brooks Range), but this seems to be at the northern edge of the distribution in Alaska. It was a nice father's day treat to see it in the nature!

This is the surrounding area. They were everywhere on the sphagnum moss:



Drosera rotundiflora habitat on Flickr

There is a bit of related info in my Orchid Borealis blog post (includes unrelated topics).


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Jun 24, 2016)

Oh, wow~ amazing photo!!! What camera do you use?

This one looks like ones I saw in Korea. 
The habitat looks similar, too.

They are just small but close-up picture rally shows off the interesting feature of this plant. 

I think there are more than just a couple of people that are interested in these. 

For now, I'm only trying ones that do not need cold winter.

Did you find some morel?
Didn't realize how expensive they could be until I had them at a restaurant a couple of years ago.


----------



## naoki (Jun 24, 2016)

The two photos above are with an older point-and-shoot Canon S100, and the other photos in the blog are with Olympus E-M1.

You are right, I think this species is in Korea, too.

My son found some in our backyard, and we were hoping to fill up several grocery bags (my friend did 2 weeks ago). We didn't find any because we stayed close to the road; the hike through burned boreal forest was a bit too tough for 3 & 4 year-old kids.


----------



## SlipperFan (Jun 24, 2016)

Very cool! Thanks.


----------



## Carkin (Jun 24, 2016)

I love to see them growing in the wild!! Thank you for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## abax (Jun 24, 2016)

Sundews are sooo gorgeous when the sun hits them just
right...they sparkle like diamonds. I used to grow them in
a terrarium and fed them fruit flies. They're jolly little
monsters!


----------



## fibre (Jun 25, 2016)

Wonderful scenes!


----------



## Lanmark (Jun 25, 2016)

I had no idea Sundews grew that far north! Beautiful!


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (Jun 25, 2016)

Naoki, it is hard to imagine living as far north as you do. How do you take those winters? Still, there is something terribly appealing about all that wilderness at one's doorstep.

D. rotundifolia must be the most widely distributed sundew in the world. I've seen them in the eastern US from the southern mountains to Maine, and it is equally at home here in Japan in upland bogs. In north Florida it is replaced by the very near relative D. brevifolia, which is remarkably an even smaller plant!


----------



## naoki (Jun 25, 2016)

Tom, winter isn't so bad for me, but you are right,it is impossible for some. People say that we have to get out and do something to like Alaskan winter; XC ski, sledding, ice fishing, snow-machine, dog mushing etc. But a bit of global warming could help us.  Indeed, last winter was crazy warm, and the temperature stayed mostly around -10F (and I don't remember a day with -30F; we usually get -35 to -40F for 1-2 weeks per year). This could be a part of the reason one of my Platanthera started to grow too early, and it didn't make it.

It is great to be so close to the wilderness, indeed. We just came back from Dragonfly festival, and there were bunch of kids chasing around them, and an author of a Dragonfly book was helping them identify and telling them all kinds of cool facts. I learned that a Four-spotted Skimmer will eat flies in your hand even if the dragonfly is captured in your hand. My son tried it and he had a blast. This species is the state insect of Alaska (mosquitoes are not it). It is a great place to raise kids, indeed.

I think you are right, D. rotundifolia has a wide world-wide distribution; and others with wide distributions are D. anglica and D. intermedia. I have to try to find D. anglica in Alaska next.


----------



## NYEric (Jun 27, 2016)

Thanks for sharing. My GF and I watch a few of those 'Alaska;...' shows on TV. We always say, "why would anyone want to work so hard just to live?!:


----------



## eOrchids (Jun 27, 2016)

Stunning! One of my favorite sundew species.

Thanks for sharing!


----------



## SFLguy (Jun 27, 2016)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> Naoki, it is hard to imagine living as far north as you do. How do you take those winters? Still, there is something terribly appealing about all that wilderness at one's doorstep.
> 
> D. rotundifolia must be the most widely distributed sundew in the world. I've seen them in the eastern US from the southern mountains to Maine, and it is equally at home here in Japan in upland bogs. In north Florida it is replaced by the very near relative D. brevifolia, which is remarkably an even smaller plant!


Not to mention it is also native to England. Charles Darwin studied them extensively, he even said that he cared more for Drosera than the origin of all the species


----------



## daniella3d (Jul 13, 2016)

Nice photos! I like them too but I much prefer pitcher plants. I have quite a collection of sarracenias in small portable bog gardens at home. I keep them in my garage at 4 C in winter and they do great year after year. I bought some from France through Ebay and some from Hawaiian Batanical in Canada. Great place to buy carnivorous plants! You can even buy the purpura which is a native Canadian bog plant.


----------



## cnycharles (Jul 17, 2016)

I like the threadleaf sundew which only grows on Long Island in ny, though they are all cool

Wilderness is great for quietude. Once while camping overnight in the Adirondacks to get an early start on orchid photographing I heard what thought was a loud creature but was only a vole in the leaves 15 yds away


Elmer Nj


----------



## SFLguy (Jul 18, 2016)

cnycharles said:


> I like the threadleaf sundew which only grows on Long Island in ny, though they are all cool
> 
> Wilderness is great for quietude. Once while camping overnight in the Adirondacks to get an early start on orchid photographing I heard what thought was a loud creature but was only a vole in the leaves 15 yds away
> 
> ...


The one you're thinking of is Drosera filiformis


----------



## likespaphs (Jul 18, 2016)

super cute!


----------



## naoki (Jul 20, 2016)

daniella3d said:


> Nice photos! I like them too but I much prefer pitcher plants. I have quite a collection of sarracenias in small portable bog gardens at home. I keep them in my garage at 4 C in winter and they do great year after year. I bought some from France through Ebay and some from Hawaiian Batanical in Canada. Great place to buy carnivorous plants! You can even buy the purpura which is a native Canadian bog plant.



I also grow a couple Sarracenia species, too. I think S. purpurea can grow in very cold area, and there are records from Yukon Territory. I'd love to get seeds of these northern populations. Maybe it can survive the Alaska winter.



cnycharles said:


> I like the threadleaf sundew which only grows on Long Island in ny, though they are all cool
> 
> Wilderness is great for quietude. Once while camping overnight in the Adirondacks to get an early start on orchid photographing I heard what thought was a loud creature but was only a vole in the leaves 15 yds away



I'd love to see photos of D. filliformis, Charles! I have a hard time growing mine for some reason. Leaves seem to lot easily. Any tips, SFLguy?

It is tough to find completely quiet place. Even Denail NP is pretty noisy. You are right that you notice a lot of things we usually don't notice in the situation. In the winter time, I also noticed faint noise a couple time, and I think that it was voles moving around under their snow tunnel. Some nature shows have clips of foxes listening intensely to find the voles under the snow, and now I know what they are listening to.


----------



## Dandrobium (Aug 5, 2016)

I spotted S. purpurea a few weeks back at the base of a ditch along a common highway in the middle of Manitoba. We can get pretty harsh winters here also, so these should be good candidates to grow outdoors in the north.

http://i.imgur.com/95pWqwl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/NdtUskS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Peba4rX.jpg

I tried growing D. rotundifolia from seed but alas, I let it dry too much while I was on my trip up north and snapping these pics! My D. capensis were still okay, they weren't nearly as tiny.


----------



## SFLguy (Aug 6, 2016)

naoki said:


> I also grow a couple Sarracenia species, too. I think S. purpurea can grow in very cold area, and there are records from Yukon Territory. I'd love to get seeds of these northern populations. Maybe it can survive the Alaska winter.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I know purpurea grows into Canada but in not sure up to where. 
How were you growing yours? 
Were you using distilled water? I've only recently started growing filiformis but i haven't really done anything special for it
They get as much sun as possible too


----------



## SFLguy (Aug 6, 2016)

Dandrobium said:


> I spotted S. purpurea a few weeks back at the base of a ditch along a common highway in the middle of Manitoba. We can get pretty harsh winters here also, so these should be good candidates to grow outdoors in the north.
> 
> http://i.imgur.com/95pWqwl.jpg
> http://i.imgur.com/NdtUskS.jpg
> ...


If there's one thing these plants don't like, it's drying out haha


----------



## naoki (Aug 6, 2016)

Dandrobium said:


> I spotted S. purpurea a few weeks back at the base of a ditch along a common highway in the middle of Manitoba. We can get pretty harsh winters here also, so these should be good candidates to grow outdoors in the north.



Very nice! If you get hold of some seeds, we can trade some seeds!



SFLguy said:


> I know purpurea grows into Canada but in not sure up to where.
> How were you growing yours?
> Were you using distilled water? I've only recently started growing filiformis but i haven't really done anything special for it
> They get as much sun as possible too



From this map, there are records in NW territories. Alaska is also included, but I didn't find any in our herbarium records.

Hmmm, I'm just using typical Drosera culture (1:1 peaterlite, bottom water) for D. filiformis. I'm guessing that we don't have enough heat. I tried direct sun outside, but it is usually 70/50F max/min. Now it is indoor under light (others are doing ok), but it stays <80F most of the time. When I give food, the leaf becomes brown. I did get seeds from ICPS seed bank, and I'll see if they will do better than one clone I have.


----------



## SFLguy (Aug 6, 2016)

How much humidity do you grow them with?
Do you let the tray dry out between watering? 
I tried to get a picture of mine earlier but it's hard without an actual camera


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (Aug 8, 2016)

Nice filiformis SWF Guy! I miss walking through the fields of them in the Florida panhandle.

Here is D. rotundifolia growing in a an upland bog (elevation ~1500 meters or 4,875 feet) in central Kyushu that I took back in 2006.


----------



## SFLguy (Aug 8, 2016)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> Nice filiformis SWF Guy! I miss walking through the fields of them in the Florida panhandle.
> 
> Here is D. rotundifolia growing in a an upland bog (elevation ~1500 meters or 4,875 feet) in central Kyushu that I took back in 2006.


I have yet to see rotundifolia in situ surprisingly enough haha, dews are always so interesting

Actually, if you saw them in the panhandle it's likely that those were D. trayci (very closely related and used to be a part of filiformis). The distinguishing trait is that trayci is mostly green while filiformis also has red in it


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (Aug 8, 2016)

SFLguy said:


> Actually, if you saw them in the panhandle it's likely that those were D. trayci (very closely related and used to be a part of filiformis). The distinguishing trait is that trayci is mostly green while filiformis also has red in it



Yup, in Liberty County, so most definitely D. tracyi. Fields of them covered in dew with the morning sunrise lighting them up. Quite a nice view. I've only seen the real filiformis in NJ many years ago as a teenager.


----------



## naoki (Aug 9, 2016)

Very nice, SFLguy! RH is around 50-70%, I don't let it dry too much. Do you think that it is a problem for this species?

I didn't know D. tracyi was separated out.

Thanks for the in situ photo, Tom! Highland bog in central Kyushu means Kujuu region, which is an amazing area?


----------



## SFLguy (Aug 9, 2016)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> Yup, in Liberty County, so most definitely D. tracyi. Fields of them covered in dew with the morning sunrise lighting them up. Quite a nice view. I've only seen the real filiformis in NJ many years ago as a teenager.



Did you see the Sarracenia too? Those are usually nearby in Liberty Co, I've only seen filiformis in cultivation but I saw trayci in the same place as you haha


----------



## SFLguy (Aug 9, 2016)

naoki said:


> Very nice, SFLguy! RH is around 50-70%, I don't let it dry too much. Do you think that it is a problem for this species?
> 
> I didn't know D. tracyi was separated out.
> 
> Thanks for the in situ photo, Tom! Highland bog in central Kyushu means Kujuu region, which is an amazing area?



No, that should be fine
I believe the separation is a fairly recent occurrence


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (Aug 10, 2016)

naoki said:


> Thanks for the in situ photo, Tom! Highland bog in central Kyushu means Kujuu region, which is an amazing area?



Naoki, yup, very near Kujuu peak itself. I've also seen this species in upland bogs on the Hiraodai karst plateau near Kitakyushu, growing right alongside Habenaria radiata. Kujuu is a nice area, but unfortunately overrun, particularly in the popular seasons, summer and fall.



SFLguy said:


> Did you see the Sarracenia too? Those are usually nearby in Liberty Co, I've only seen filiformis in cultivation but I saw trayci in the same place as you haha



Sure, fields of them - leucophylla, psittacina, rosea, and various flava forms. Nice place to visit when they're in flower especially.


----------



## SFLguy (Aug 12, 2016)

Forgot i had a picture of one of the babies


----------



## SFLguy (Aug 12, 2016)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> Naoki, yup, very near Kujuu peak itself. I've also seen this species in upland bogs on the Hiraodai karst plateau near Kitakyushu, growing right alongside Habenaria radiata. Kujuu is a nice area, but unfortunately overrun, particularly in the popular seasons, summer and fall.
> 
> 
> 
> Sure, fields of them - leucophylla, psittacina, rosea, and various flava forms. Nice place to visit when they're in flower especially.


I can imagine haha


----------



## Heather (Aug 17, 2016)

SFLguy said:


> If there's one thing these plants don't like, it's drying out haha



No kidding! I just cooked my capensis not too long ago. Luckily it had a bunch of new leaves coming and it has recovered. It gets a lot of sun. I've had a tough time finding a less sunny place to put it lately - hence the cook. 

We had rotundifolia in our bog back in Central Ma. The thing about bogs (this was a kettle hole) is that they tend to be very chilly waters. We had lots of tamarack and cranberries in there as well. VERY different habitat from anything else in that area.


----------



## SFLguy (Aug 18, 2016)

Heather said:


> No kidding! I just cooked my capensis not too long ago. Luckily it had a bunch of new leaves coming and it has recovered. It gets a lot of sun. I've had a tough time finding a less sunny place to put it lately - hence the cook.
> 
> We had rotundifolia in our bog back in Central Ma. The thing about bogs (this was a kettle hole) is that they tend to be very chilly waters. We had lots of tamarack and cranberries in there as well. VERY different habitat from anything else in that area.


That is interesting haha
The bogs in northern Florida are pretty warm, but then again where in Florida is it not?


----------

