Range: Northern North America

 

A naturally occurring hybrid of Drosera anglica x rotundifolia, this taxon may occur anywhere the two parent species grow sympatrically (which includes much of the northern hemisphere), but has only officially been recorded in portions of North America in the wild, including the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes/New England region. Plants tend to grow on sphagnum mats or seepage areas, often in more similar niches to anglica than rotundifolia. Size and shape vary depending on the traits of the parent, though can reach up to 8 cm in height with semi-erect paddle-shaped leaves. Petioles are long parallel, glabrous or with sparse hairs, often slightly flattened, the lamina obovate to spatulate, the broadest part of the lamina typically near the midpoint. Coloration varies from green with reddish tentacles to sometimes solid crimson. Inflorescences are up to 15 cm tall, bearing a number of small roughly 1 cm wide white blooms that are sterile naturally (fertile forms have been made in cultivation). This hybrid is difficult to distinguish from D. anglica or some similar natural hybrids but regional variation in lamina shape usually helps, lamina of this hybrid being shorter and more mid-point broadened compared to sympatric taxa.

 

Cultivation: grow in 100% peat, milled sphagnum, or a 1:1 peat/perlite mix, kept very moist and humid with temps of 65-85°F in summer. In winter or when plants develop hibernacula for dormancy, let soil dry to damp and place in a cold location for at least 3 months or until spring. Sow F1 new seeds on the soil surface and provide a 4 week cold stratification period (unless of an artificial subtropical form, then simply sow and wait), and grow in strong artificial light to full sun.

 

Lifespan and reproduction: perennial. Reproductively sterile, but can be grown through leaf cuttings and division. Though fertile, the artificially produced cultivar ‘Ivan’s Paddle’ does not breed true, and seeds produced will no longer hold that cultivar name.

 

Sources: Lowrie et al. (2017). Drosera of the World Vol. 2. Redfern Publishing.