Surprise!
What a surprise to find Roridula dentata, eh?
After leaving that lovely bog, I quickly cleaned up at my hotel and then walked across campus to meet
with a few local carnivorous
plant enthusiasts: Matt Opel and Bill Matthews (well, Bill is not exactly "local," but
at least lives in the same state). Matt and Bill are both members of the NECPS, and are good guys.
Matt showed Bill and me around the University greenhouse collections. It consists of
an interesting set of plants, and I was absolutely
impressed with Matt's Roridula dentata, shown above. While in many ways the plant evokes thoughts of Drosera,
the highly pinnately divided leaves are quite unlike anything in that genus. Matt has been growing Roridula
successfully for a few years, and has even obtained seed from his plants.
I will not reveal anything about Matt's horticultural practices
with this plant, as he has kindly written a paper about Roridula to be published in Carnivorous Plant Newsletter.
After a nice time talking shop with Matt and Bill, it was time to call it a night--I
had to return to my hotel room and pack.
I have two more photographs of Matt's Rodidula dentata
here and here.
The schedule for the next day was filled with excitement.
I would check out of the hotel before dawn after only 4.5 hours of sleep
(after all, I would have plenty of unoccupied time available the next evening on plane flights), and
drive straight north out of Connecticut, through Massachusetts, and up into Vermont to
see Eshqua Bog. This preserve is supposedly quite lovely and harbors both Drosera and
Sarracenia. After exploring this site, I planned to drive back towards Connecticut, stopping off at another carnivorous
plant that I knew would be extremely fine (having read reports from other carnivorous plant fans), and finally return my car
to the airport and fly out on a 5:30 departure. Such was the plan.
