Drosera falconeri

Drosera falconeri superficially resembles the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). In a review of the research on the evolution of the Venus flytrap from sticky-leaved ancestors, botanists Thomas Gibson and Donald Waller use D. falconeri as an example of a sticky-leaved species that shares many characteristics with the Venus flytrap, such as a wide petiole and lamina, and faces the same challenge of prey escape that the snap trap of the Venus flytrap evolved in response to. ==Hybrids==

It can readily hybridise with other species in the D. petiolaris complex, which includes the species in the subgenus Lasiocephala. Hybridisation is rare in the wild, however, because the soil types specific to individual parent species do not converge often. The first natural hybrid to be discovered was the product of D. falconeri and D. dilatatopetiolaris, later given the nomen nudum D. dilaconeri in 1991 by E. Westphal. Drosera falconeri also hybridises with D. petiolaris; this hybrid was given the nomen nudum D. petioconeri by Westphal in 1991. ==Distribution and ecology==

Drosera falconeri is common throughout the northern coastal areas of the Northern Territory in Australia. It was originally located along the Finniss River in alkaline sandy soils. It is found growing in the grey silty clay soils in the Palmerston and Berry Springs regions and on Melville Island. In the first account of this species' habitat, the soil pH at the site was recorded as pH 8. At the site where D. falconeri was first discovered, tall dense grass covered the small population. ==Botanical history and taxonomy==

Drosera falconeri was first discovered by a Mr Falconer in 1980 along the Finniss River in the Northern Territory. Falconer was collecting plants and tropical fish for Peter Tsang, a carnivorous plant enthusiast living in Queensland. Tsang then sent specimens on to Allen Lowrie and Bill Lavarack, a botanist with the Queensland National Parks. Tsang also prepared a short announcement of this new species published in the June 1980 issue of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter, giving a brief description and suggesting the specific epithet honour Mr. Falconer as its discoverer. It was not until 1984 that Katsuhiko Kondo provided the formal description required under the rules of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature in an article that described three new species in the D. petiolaris complex. The species was only known from a single location, the description of which vaguely positioned it along the Finniss River, a river that is nearly long. Tsang died in 1984 and it was feared that the exact location of the known population was lost with him. Further field studies, however, produced several new sites. Its alliance with the D. petiolaris complex in subgenus Lasiocephala was suspected from its earliest description by Peter Tsang, who noted similarities in their dormant bud and root structures. This assessment has been confirmed by further analysis by other botanists. ==Cultivation==

Drosera falconeri was first cultivated by Peter Tsang shortly after its initial discovery. He then sent living specimens on to others to establish the new species in cultivation. It is considered to be a difficult species to grow in cultivation. During its seasonal dormancy, D. falconeri produces a tight rosette of leaves that resembles a hibernating bud. It is often grown in a peat:sand or perlite soil. Plants can be vegetatively propagated by submerging leaf pullings in pure water. Under the Australian botanist Allen Lowrie's growing conditions, species in subgenus Lasiocephala grow year-round without dormancy. Lowrie also notes that these species produce deep red foliage in the wild, a characteristic that is lost in cultivation when plants retain a greener appearance presumably caused by lower light intensities. == See also ==