D. uniflora Flowered

From: Ivan Snyder (bioexp@juno.com)
Date: Sun Oct 22 2000 - 09:52:31 PDT


Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2000 09:52:31 -0700
From: Ivan Snyder <bioexp@juno.com>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg3046$foo@default>
Subject: D. uniflora Flowered

Hi sundew fans,

I last wrote a few weeks ago that my very rare Drosera uniflora from
Chile was beginning to form a flower. It has happened. A truly wonderful
sight! The plant rosette reached a diameter of 2.2 cm, while the flower
was 1.3 cm. A relatively huge flower. The petals were much larger than
expected. What surprised me the most was that there were 5 styles and a 5
lobed ovary. The flower appeared most like that of Aldrovanda, which is
also pentamerous. Aldrovanda is the closest relative to Dionaea and so I
think that the ancestor of Dionaea may also have been a pentamerous
sundew. I'm thinking now that since D. uniflora is the most primative
sundew in the Americas and is also pentamerous, then maybe this of all
sundews is the most closely related to Dionaea? Think about that. Another
peculiarity was that the flower opened for two days. The stamens did not
ripen to release pollen until the second day. Unfortunately, the flower
is not producing seed. Apparently the flowers are self-incompatible.

Ivan Snyder
Hermosa Beach
California



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