Drosophyllum

Nigel Hurneyman (NHurneyman@softwar1.demon.co.uk)
Thu, 20 Jun 1996 13:58:59 +-100

Richard, hopefully others with more up-to-date knowledge will correct me
(Gordon?), but my principal textbook places Drosophyllum only in the
southern half of mainland Iberia, not even making it to the Balearics or
the Canaries. However, I have an older and less reliable book that
suggests Drosophyllum occasionally hops across the Straits of Gibralter
into North Africa! For those who grow CPs for their beauty rather than
their rarity or collectability, Drosophyllum is a definite 'must have'.
Although getting a seedling through the initial stages of its life is
very challenging, adult plants are surprisingly rewarding and
undemanding.

All British wild flowers are protected and it is illegal to collect them
unless you have a licence. As usual, officialdom has gone over the top,
and I am sure nobody would howl too loudly if you collected a few seed
pods of Drosera Rotundifolia from a population of hundreds of thousands.
However I cannot condone the actions of the individual caught by the UK
CPS digging up potfuls of Droseras from the dwindling population in the
New Forest.

By the way, it sounds from the conversation about U Olivacea that the US
Federal Authorities and the ICPS ought to join up and bring this species
into protective custody, otherwise it is in grave danger of lapsing into
extinction.

Good Growing, Nigel Hurneyman