Carnivorous Plants of French Guyana

In searching the internet for interesting things about carnivorous plants, I ran across a blog which discusses, in depth, many of the carnivorous plants in French Guyana. I will warn you that some of it is in French, but Google Translate easily changed that to English for me.

One of the most striking features of that blog was the discussion of carnivorous plant habitats. As seen below, the savannas in which most Utricularia and Drosera grow look virtually identical to the savannas in the South-Eastern United States, savannas in South Africa, savannas on mountains in the Philippines, and savannas in Australia. It always surprises me how similar the habitats of carnivorous plants look.

In total, 28 species of carnivorous plants are known to be present in French Guyana and seven more species are suspected to be present. The blog discusses, in some detail: Drosera capillaris, Drosera cayennensis, Genlisea filiformis, Utricularia adpressa, Utricularia amethystina, Utricularia benjaminiana, Utricularia foliosa, Utricularia gibba, Utricularia guyanensis, Utricularia hispida, Utricularia juncea, Utricularia myriocista, Utricularia nana, Utricularia pusilla, Utricularia sandwithii, Utricularia simulans, Utricularia subulata, Utricularia triloba, and Utricularia viscosa.

Aspiring CPN writers visiting French Guyana take note, those species suspected to be present are:

1. Genlisea oxycentron  P.Taylor - pers.com. from A.Fleischmann
2. Genlisea pulchella  Tutin - pers.com. from A.Fleischmann
3. Utricularia erectiflora  A.de Saint-Hilaire et Girard - cited by Hoff & Cremers 2004
4. Utricularia humboltii  R.H.Schomburgk - cited by Hoff & Cremers 2004
5. Utricularia longeciliata  A.L.de Candolle - cited by Hoff & Cremers 2004
6. Utricularia olivacea  Wright ex Griseb - cited by Taylor 1999
7. Utricularia pubescens  P.Taylor - cited by Hoff & Cremers 2004

I do appreciate the extensive documentation of Drosera capillaris, seen above, and Drosera cayennensis, seen below, in situ. Oftentimes, photodocumentation in the wild is not presented alongside personal observation (which can be invaluable for those of us trying to figure out how to grow the species several thousand miles away). 

Such photography is certainly helpful when thinking about how to design, for instance, a growing chamber for Genlisea filiformis. In the dry season, the plant is in barely moist, sandy-looking soil (see photo below on top) but, in the wet season, it is submerged (see photo below on bottom).

 

Additionally, I found that there are quite a few amazing photos on the site, including the one below, of Drosera capillaris, Genlisea filiformis, and Utricularia amethystina all growing together in a savanna:

I highly recommend a visit over to the blog, and will certainly be covering these plants more extensively in the future.