Kew Gardens (London)

I spent some days with my girlfriend in London, including a visit to the Kew Gardens which I really recommend. I did not know if there where CPs in them, until I discovered a little room in the Princess of Wales Conservatory where they are all grown. There are also some Nephentes in the Temperate and the Waterlily House.

There are many Sarracenia and Drosera species and a few Nephentes, Dionaea and Utricularia. I could also see some healthy specimens of Roridula gorgonias and Drosophyllum lusitanicum.  There is a small Cephalotus follicularis in a corner and some Heliamphora nutans, with some clumps of large specimens.

Enjoy the pics!

Nepenthes ampullaria red pitcher, in the Waterlily House

Tuberous Drosera sp.

Roridula gorgonias with flowers

More Roridula gorgonias with flowers

Macro of leaf from R. gorgonias, showing hairs and glands

Leaf tips of R. gorgonias, showing hairs and glands

A big clump of S. purpurea

 
Drosophyllum lusitanicum (yes, exactly the one I did not find in my trip in Spring '08)

Closed flowers of D. lusitanicum

Macro shoot of D. lusitanicum leaf, a bit blurred

Nice clump of H. nutans

More H. nutans

Drosophyllum lusitanicum near Ubrique (Spain)

I had the opportunity to drive through the Natural Park of Los Alcornocales, in Andalusia (Spain) during a trip from Granada to Huelva. I had read in Das Taublatt and in the CPUK Forum that in that region, Drosophyllum lusitanicum could be easily spotted. So I planned it all, I double-checked the directions about locations, I took my cam with extra batteries (just in case), my laptop with a 3G modem (just in case I needed some more info) and I drove to Ubrique.

I was absolutely sure about the easiness of finding Drosophyllum there. I repeated to myself "It's easy: look for red soil, Erica and Cistus and there it'll be".

From the astonishing vast amount of pictures below you can imagine the result of my trip.

No plants. No pics. No joy. :(

Disclaimer: I must say in self-defense that many places of the roadsides had been recently disturbed as road works were being performed. To make things worse, I had less than 2 hours to look for the plants. I must thank my girlfriend for coming with me to look for CPs. You may suppose that she is not exactly a CP fan.