Expert: Christopher Littrell - 12/8/2007

Question
Christopher,

    I have in current collection multiple Drosera Capensis, a pot full of Drosera
Spathulata, and a couple pygmies, Drosera Nitidula x Pulchella. And i was
wondering, and have been wondering for a while now, what kind of cross
breeding i could do with these guys? I realize that the pygmy probably
sterile, as a hybrid, but then i read an article on the ICPS website by Ivan
Snyder, and how he used a chemical called "Colchicine" to make sterile
hybrids fertile. Have you done anything with this? And more importantly, do
you think it could work? I really want to cross the pygmy, which blooms all
the time, with one of my Cape's, who is a very very prolific grower (seed to
flower in a year flat). So, what do you think?


                                              Cj  

Answer
Hello CJ,

From what I have read colchicine can be used to force fertility in some sterile hybrids, however; I have never tried this myself. I am not sure how well this treatment would work or even if your pygmy would be capable of producing viable offspring with your Cape sundew. There are many factors to consider when trying to determine how well two species will cross. Most sundews do tend to be capable of easy crossing, but I have not seen any gemmae forming pygmy crossbreeds with other non-gemmae forming species.

It is always worth a try as you might come up with a completely new plant.

You might send this question to Sarracenia Northwest too just to see if they know of any other attempts at what you are thinking about doing.

I do know that D. spatulata can be crossed with D. capensis quite easily.

Keep up the good work with your sundews,

Christopher