CP Trips in Brazil VI
Fernando Rivadavia Lopes (ferndriv@usp.br)
Fri, 18 Aug 1995 15:30:16 -0500 (CDT)
To finish off with the CPs I saw on my trips in July, I left
G.uncinata, the most amazing of all. This species was only known from a
single collection from mountains near Mucuge, between 1300 and 1500m.
Fromm-Trinta described G.uncinata based on these flower scapes collected
in March, 1980. The peduncles were up to 40cm in height and the
purplish-blue flowers on short pedicels had hooked spurs. This plant was
the reason why I went to Mucuge. Later on in the trip, I discovered this
species growing around Catoles, from 1600 to 1950m, suggesting that this
species is probably not that rare at the Chapada Diamantina.
When I finally found G.uncinata on my last day at Mucuge (I had
practically given up, thinking it was an annual and had already died down
for the season), I was astounded! I can't described the feeling I felt,
seeing those gigantic plants!! This is surely the largest species in the
genus, beating G.aurea. Most peduncles were still beginning to open up
their flowers, yet they were up to 80cm high!!
There were up to 4 open flowers on each scape. These were large, but
maybe G.aurea's are larger. They resembled those of U.tricolor, except
for the long, hooked spur. I observed something I'd already seen in
G.violacea and a few Utrics. The yellow stripe on the base of the lower
lip was sometimes eaten out, apparently by some insect. Yellow pigment is
probably tastier than the blue!
Now what shocked me most was the thickness of the peduncles.
Some were almost as thick as a pencil!! Seeing that leaves were usually
absent around the base of the peduncles, I suppose that this organ is
responsible for most of the plant's photosynthesis, at least during the
late rainy and early dry season.
When I began digging up a few plants, I was surprised to find
that the scapes were anchored around 2 to 5cm below the surface. Like
with G.aurea, I believe this might also be a protection against fires,
but in this case support for the heavy peduncle was vital.
When I removed the 1st few blocks of soil with my pocketknife, I
was again shocked to see the thick mass of white traps I'd cut through!
And not only were they more numerous than on all other Genlisea species
I've ever seen, but they were also thicker than I would've ever believed!
Can you imagine a Genlisea trap so thick that you can actually open it up
with your fingernail, slicing the tube just like you'd do with
a sarracenia leaf?!?! And though I'd dig up to around 10cm deep, I never
seemed to be able to get a block of dirt which showed the sliced 'arms'
of the traps, only the main tube above the arms! I only saw arms on a few
small traps which were growing upwards from the meristem towards the
soil surface. The main thought in my mind while observing these sliced
traps was what G.uncinata would look like if cultivated like the
G.hispidula shown on the last CPN cover and grown by Geoff Wong!! I've
no doubt the traps on this species can surely surpass 20cm in length!
G.uncinata was mostly found growing in flat, grassy areas, where
the black, humid soil seemed to be a mixture of burned charcoal-like
plant remains and a bit of sand. They were also found by a stream at
Catoles in soggy soil. This species is surely a perennial and seems to
grow at altitudes that are at cloud level during the night + morning,
getting humidity all year long, including during the dry season.
Fernando Rivadavia
Sao Paulo, Brasil