FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I'd like to thank Evenwind for his recent donation of some really nice seeds. These aren't the ones I hinted at in the teaser, but they're really cool in their own rights. Plus, since he uses his seeds as an exfoliator before donating them, I thought it best we get them out there.
He has donated 3 packs of capillaris "Emeralds Envy", 3 packs of ultramafica, 1 pack of bulk ultra x spat, 1 pack of spatulata "Ahipara Gumfields, NZ", and 1 pack of U. lateriflora.
These seeds are immediately available to all eligible members.
Thank you Evenwind for your latest donation, your generosity is very appreciated.

@Evenwind Could you post a pic of the ultramafica? Also thanks for the awesome donations to the seed bank!

@sundewd Here's the pic of the ultramafica. As you probably know, ultramafica is a recent discovery (2011, think) and is closely allied with spatulata, basically being differentiated by the mafic soil it grows in. According to the CPPF, there are lot of misidentified plants out there. Whether mine is the real deal or not, I don't know. It does match about half the pics out there.

Anyhow:

If you've ever seen the stipules turn red, that would be a sign it is the real species. However, I have a few of them and they don't all look red all the time.

@evenwind,

Here's a pic of one that had really red stipules which is in the window with a supplemental light and here's a couple that are kind of red with some white ones
they just get yescom panel light.
I can't fully tell but it doesn't look like yours have red stipules but if you were to repot on of those little ones on the side and put it in higher light you could be able to verify if they're really ultramafica or not.

@sundewd Sounds like a plan but I don't think I'll be able to extract the babies without disturbing the whole pot. And right now momma is putting out a lot of seeds and I'd rather not interfere with that. So it'll be a while until I feel I can repot without hurting anything. In the meantime, if you want to see for yourself, I'd be happy to send you a pack of fresh seeds - just PM me your address.

@evenwind, I hope you don't mind but I showed the pic to a friend who knows a lot more about sundews than me and he said it definitely isn't ultramafica. It's still a nice plant though! And I could imagine if it matches other plants which are being labeled as ultramafica maybe it's actually a spatulata form from the same region. It would be cool if there were a way to trace it back to the original source and figure it out. I'm going to hold off on the seeds, but thanks very much for the offer!

@sundewd Thanks for the info.

@ChefDean I guess the name should be changed from Ultramafica to maybe "Spatulata Type" or maybe "Spatulata Complex"?

The Spatulata formerly known as the Fresh Prince of Mt. Mantalingahan

I like that but it might be hard to fit on a plant tag.

evenwind wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 11:04 pm I like that but it might be hard to fit on a plant tag.

Just call it "Mantalingahan Spatulata variety" for short

I wouldn't put that without actually tracing it back though, that's jsut the area that ultramafica is from, however it's also entirely possible that whoever was the original grower to introduce them simply mixed up their tags

How about "spatulata complex large rosette".

sundewd wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 10:42 pm @evenwind, I hope you don't mind but I showed the pic to a friend who knows a lot more about sundews than me and he said it definitely isn't ultramafica. It's still a nice plant though! And I could imagine if it matches other plants which are being labeled as ultramafica maybe it's actually a spatulata form from the same region. It would be cool if there were a way to trace it back to the original source and figure it out. I'm going to hold off on the seeds, but thanks very much for the offer!

Edited, because it looks like I had one too many shots before posting this

Due to how genes may be expressed in a given plant, I would still go with an ultramafica label due to the assumed parentage of the parent plant. Which could very well be an ultra, if only due to the myriad of genetic possibilities that exist.
A general drosera can have 20K+ genes, which could be expressed differently, sometimes very differently. A good example of this could be capillaris. Look at how many variations exist from a small, stubby rosette, to leaves two to three inches long, and everything in between. Or VFT cultivars for example. All are the same species, all initially from the same small location, but can show a huge range of shapes and sizes depending on which genes are being expressed.
To me (not an expert here, and not discounting anyone's opinion), it looks like just a variety of ultramafica, and, since it was donated as an ultramafica, I'll leave it labeled as such for now.