Q: Byblis: species

Byblis species
Byblis aquatica Lowrie & Conran Byblis filifolia Planch. Byblis gigantea Lindl. Byblis guehoi Conran & Lowrie Byblis lamellata Conran & Lowrie Byblis liniflora Salisb. Byblis rorida Lowrie & Conran

A: The genus is small. Oddly enough, some of my own observations of the plants in cultivation were cited as important evidence that some of the plants that had been discovered and were in cultivation in the 1990s merited separate species status! Even horticulture can yield cool science!

The two species B. gigantea and B. lamellata are very similar, and are coarse perennial species up to about 70 cm tall that can resprout from rootstocks. The rest of the species (sometimes refered to as the Byblis liniflora complex) are smaller, more delicate, and in cultivation are at most annuals or short-lived biennials.

The details used in keys to separate the species are not entirely trivial. Oh, they are easy enough to use, but there are several different features used: the lengths of the anthers compared to the filaments, for example. So don't expect me to be able to sight-ID these plants from sloppy photographs e-mailed to me. Most of the Byblis plants in casual cultivation are Byblis liniflora, so if you happen across one in cultivation it is likely to be that species. However, in the future I expect that Byblis filifolia will be more common than it is currently.

• B. liniflora
• B. gigantea

A fossil seed, similar to the modern members of the Byblis liniflora complex, was found in South Australia near Adelaide. Unfortunately, it has not been given a name for a very sad reason, the nature of which are revealed in the announcement paper but which I don't care to tell you, so as to encourage you to venture into a library.

Page citations: Conran, J.G., & Christophel, D.C. 2004; Conran, J.G. et al. 2002; Hartmeyer, S. 1997, 1998; Lowrie, A. & Conran, J.G. 1998, 2008; Rice, B.A. 1993, 2006a; Schlauer, J. 2002; personal observations.