Range: New Jersey

 

This natural hybrid bears the rather obvious namesake due to being one of the earliest recorded natural hybrids in the genus, in the late 1800’s; a cross between D. filiformis x intermedia, it is known to occur in the wild only in parts of New Jersey where both parents exist though may also occur anywhere where the two species grow near to each other, which includes much of the east coast and Florida. Plants are intermediate between the parent species in most respects, with an erect spreading rosette of leaves up to 10 cm high. Leaves are more or less filiform, but with a distinctive glabrous petiole comprising a sixth to nearly a third of the leaf, and the lamina roughly equal width along its length but sometimes may be slightly broader just beneath the apex. Coloration is bright green to slightly yellow or orange-tinted, with rich red tentacles often giving the plant an overall orange or pinkish cast. Inflorescences may reach 15-18 cm high, bearing up to a dozen small buds. Flowers are roughly 1 cm across, with roughly ovate or truncate-tipped petals colored pale pink to nearly white. A sterile plant naturally, it will not produce seeds on its own (an exception being plants originating from an artificial introduction to Butterfly Valley, California, where a polyploid form with low fertility but capable of producing seeds was collected).

 

Cultivation: grow in an appropriate sand or peat-based low nutrient soil mix, kept moist to sometimes even waterlogged and moderately humid, with warm temperatures of 70-85°F throughout summer. In winter when plants enter hibernacula, allow the soil to dry to just damp and store in a cool to cold location for at least 3 months or until spring. Sow seeds (if from the Butterfly Valley form or a new cross) on soil surface and treat with a 4-6 week cold stratification, and grow in strong artificial light to full sun.

 

Lifespan and reproduction: perennial. Reproductively sterile (save the Butterfly Valley form of course), but can be grown through leaf cuttings or natural division.

 

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