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Drosera burmannii from Beerwah, Queensland, Australia.
These plants are 2 cm across.
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Drosera burmannii is found in northern and eastern Australia,
India, China, Japan, and south east Asia. There are various forms
that range in size from less than 1 cm to about 2 cm across and
may be golden green, dark green, green with red tentacles or all
red. Drosera sessilifolia is found in Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela
and possibly N Argentina, Paraguay, E Bolivia, E Peru, SE Colombia,
French Guiana and Surinam. The small plants makes an
excellent addition to CP collection. In fact it makes a wonderful
weed if you aren't careful.
| Drosera sessilifolia and the
redder D. burmannii varieties
are easily confused in cultivation. Seeds distributed by the
Seed Bank as Drosera sessilifolia may actually have
been Drosera burmannii. D. sessilifolia looks
a lot like Drosera burmannii "Pilliga Red" but has
wider petioles and rounder laminas. |
Drosera burmannii and D. sessilifolia are
annuals which means under normal circumstances within one growing
season they will grow quickly, bloom, set seed and die. In nature
Drosera burmannii seeds sprout with the onset of the summer rainy season. It
requires very warm and bright conditions to do well. The plants
bloom and then die in the fall as the ground dries out.
You can maintain Drosera burmannii a number of years if
you remove the flower stalks before the flowers open, keep the plants
in their ideal circumstances of heat and light, and repot them after
the mat of old leaves gets thick enough to interfere with new roots.
If you allow them to bloom even once, the plants will be reduced
in size substantially and may have difficulty recovering unless
carefully trimmed of old leaves and transplanted. When you allow
the plants to bloom in order to get seed for more plants, it is
best to keep them under drier conditions so the seed heads don't
get moldy.
Drosera burmannii isn't very picky about soil. It grows
well in the standard 1:1 peat:sand "CP mix". Sow the seeds
on the surface and put the pot in a very warm and bright location.
Everyone has their own preferred routine. I put pots with seeds
in plastic zip-lock bags under but not too close to florescent lights.
A temperature about 25°C (80°F) works best. When the seeds
begin to germinate, I remove the pots from the plastic bags and
move the pots to a bright location slightly drier that gets a little
air circulation to help prevent damping off. The seedlings may be
a little slow growing at first but they are definitely faster than
most Drosera species.
Once the plants are large enough you can try feeding them small
insects or get some dried blood worms at a pet shop. The dried blood
worms can be dipped in water and placed on the dewy leaves--don't
feed a plant that isn't dewy. If the food gets moldy, use less next
time. A dab of 70% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) from a small paint
brush will kill the fungus.
Annual Drosera species are generally not propagated by root
or leaf cuttings. When you grow them you should always be thinking
about getting enough seeds to make sure you will have the plants
again next year. If you get way more than you need, be sure to share
some with the seed bank.
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Note almost all the tentacles of Drosera
burmannii "Pilliga
Red" are red.

This is Drosera burmannii from Evans Head, NSW, Australia.
Note only the outer tentacles are red. The old leaves also turn
bright red.
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The flower of Drosera burmannii "Pilliga
Red"
Drosera burmannii "Pilliga
Red" is presumably from the area of Pilliga Nature Park
in inland New South Wales, Australia. It is a beautiful plant
but a little more temperamental than the all
green form from Beerwah, Queensland, Australia. Make sure
you allow enough plants to bloom to collect seeds for next
year as it more likely not to survive if the temperatures
go much below 16°C. |
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