Hybrid, fer shure!
But this was our reward for our labors. There is no
question about this being a hybrid; the plant was suffused with red pigmentation, as per
Drosera filiformis, but not quite as richly. Meanwhile,
it was as big as the much-larger Drosera tracyi.
Very exciting!
Furthermore, Brian Barnes had created this very hybrid in cultivation using Drosera tracyi
and Floridian Drosera filiformis, and he said the results were identical.
We took photographs, video, and herbarium specimens with glee. But just minutes into our work I heard Jim say
"We have no business being here." The serious tone to his voice made me look up in a hurry; Jim was
studying the very dark, very low, very angry clouds bearing down on us. Jim has years of boating experience, and he is used to
watching the weather.
The rumble of approaching thunder confirmed that we needed to find cover, fast!
Unfortunately, other than a small cluster of nearby trees, there was nothing to break the topography in any direction.
We were sitting ducks for lightning strikes. Hiding under the trees would be unwise, as they were as
likely to draw lightning as we were.
Meanwhile, the cars were more than a km away, on the other side of two lake passages. We could never reach them in
time, and wading through a lake during a lightning storm would have been the height of stupidity.
