>Ok, D.brevifolia is not an annaul! Everyone has told me so yet
>my plants are now two years old. Not a one has died and yes I
>allowed them to flower a set seed this year. They survive the
>drier seasons by giving up their rosettes and only the roots
>remain. Perhaps a bit of the stem lives too but this isn't
>needed for the plants' survival as I have had no trouble producing
>numerous rosettes from root cuttings. Infact, these plants remind
>me of D.hamiltonii since their roots are so much larger than
>what it seems the rosettes should need.
My, my, Jan will be happy to hear this! By saying that
D.brevifolia can survive as dormant roots sure makes his point of view
(about including this species in sect.Ptycnostygma) even stronger, since
the species generally included in this section are known to do the same.
As for the annuality of this species, I have only seen it a few
times in the wild in Brazil and can't say for sure if it does grow as such
there. Its is an assumption base on the fact that plants brought from the
wild, after flowering, died during the dry season though I kept them
humid, showing some kind of biological clock. Maybe the N and S.American
ones are slightly different? I would really appreciate all the comments
possible from any one out there on the growth cycle of this species.
Best Wishes,
Fernando Rivadavia
Tokyo, Japan
P.S. Hey Dave, you don't happen to have any seeds of these
D.brevifolia, do you? Do you have any location data for them? I'm not sure
if anyone has sent N.American D.brevifolia + D.capillaris seeds to my
friend Fabio in Brazil yet and we would really like to compare them with
the Brazilian counterparts.