Drosera, which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surfaces. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which the plants grow. Various species, which vary greatly in size and form, are native to every continent except Antarctica.
Droseraceae is a family of carnivorous flowering plants, also known as the sundew family. It consists of approximately 180 species in three extant genera, the vast majority being in the sundew genus Drosera. The family also contains the well-known Venus flytrap and the more obscure waterwheel plant, both of which are the only living species of their respective genera. Representatives of the Droseraceae are found on all continents except Antarctica.
Drosera capillaris, also known as the pink sundew, is a species of carnivorous plant belonging to the family Droseraceae. It is native to the southern United States, the Greater Antilles, western and southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It is listed as vulnerable in the US state of Virginia, and critically imperiled in Arkansas, Maryland, and Tennessee.
Drosera rotundifolia, the round-leaved sundew, roundleaf sundew, or common sundew, is a carnivorous species of flowering plant that grows in bogs, marshes and fens. One of the most widespread sundew species, it has a circumboreal distribution, being found in all of northern Europe, much of Siberia, large parts of northern North America, Korea and Japan but is also found as far south as California, Mississippi and Alabama in the United States of America and in New Guinea.
Drosera spatulata, the spoon-leaved sundew, is a variable, rosette-forming sundew with spoon-shaped leaves. The specific epithet is Latin for "spatula shaped," a reference to the form of the leaves. This sundew has a large range and occurs naturally throughout Southeast Asia, southern China and Japan, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, eastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Variants are often known by the localities in which they are found. The plant does not form hibernacula in winter, and is easily grown using the same methods as Drosera capensis.
Drosera peltata, commonly called the shield sundew or pale sundew, is a climbing or scrambling perennial tuberous species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera. Among the tuberous sundews, D. peltata has the largest distribution, which includes eastern and western Australia, New Zealand, India, and most of Southeast Asia including the Philippines. The specific epithet is Latin for "shield shaped", a reference to the shape of the cauline leaves. It is either a single extremely variable species, or a complex of several closely related species of uncertain taxonomic boundaries. In Australia at least four forms have had or still have specific taxonomic recognition: Drosera peltata subsp. peltata, D. peltata subsp. auriculata, D. foliosa and D. gracilis.
Drosera anglica, commonly known as the English sundew or great sundew, is a carnivorous flowering plant species belonging to the sundew family Droseraceae. It is a temperate species with a circumboreal range, although it does occur as far south as Japan, southern Europe, and the island of Kauai in Hawaii, where it grows as a tropical sundew. It is thought to originate from an amphidiploid hybrid of D. rotundifolia and D. linearis, meaning that a sterile hybrid between these two species doubled its chromosomes to produce fertile progeny which stabilized into the current D. anglica.
Drosera binata, commonly known as the forked sundew or fork-leaved sundew. It is a large, perennial sundew native to Australia and New Zealand. The specific epithet is Latin for "having pairs" - a reference to the leaves, which are dichotomously divided or forked.
Drosera burmanni, the tropical sundew, is a small, compact species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera. Its natural geographical range includes the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Australia. It normally spans only 2 cm (0.8 in) in diameter. It is one of the fastest trapping sundews as well, and its leaves can curl around an insect in only a few seconds, compared to the minutes or hours it takes other sundews to surround their prey. In nature, D. burmanni is an annual, but in cultivation, when grown indoors during the cold months, it can live for many years. Since D. burmanni is an annual, it produces large amounts of seed. Drosera burmanni has been considered a powerful rubefacient in Ayurveda.
Drosera callistos is a species of pygmy sundew from Western Australia. The specific epithet callistos is from the Greek word callistos meaning beautiful.
Drosera indica, sometimes known as the Indian sundew, is a species of sundew native to tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar and tropical and subtropical Asia. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum in 1753. Until the early 21st century it was mostly considered a highly variable species with a wide distribution including Australia, but since 2000 several distinct species have been separated from D. indica within Drosera section Arachnopus, which is often referred to as the ‘Drosera indica complex’. Many of these species are endemic to Australia, but D. indica itself is now widely considered to be absent from that country.
Drosera pygmaea is a carnivorous, rosette-forming biennial or annual species of herb native to Australia and New Zealand. The specific epithet, which translates as "dwarf" from Latin, is a reference to the very small size of this plant, which grows to between 8 and 18 mm in diameter. Small, pale flowers are produced at the ends of 1- to 3-inch stems. It is perhaps the most well-known of the pygmy sundews.
Drosera scorpioides, commonly called the shaggy sundew, is a pygmy sundew native to the Jarrah Forest region and southern coasts of Southwest Australia. Notable for its unusually large size relative to other pygmy sundews, D. scorpioides can produce rosettes measuring up to two inches in diameter and specimens may attain a height of up to 100 millimeters. The species is found on white sand and clay, near swamps, on sand ridges, and is associated with laterite. The flowers are pink and white, appearing sometime between August and October. Depending on the form, D. scorpioides can be expected to live up to seven years.
Drosera glanduligera, commonly known as the pimpernel sundew or scarlet sundew, is a species of carnivorous plant endemic to southern Australia. It is an ephemeral annual plant that grows in the winter and flowers from August to November.
Drosera meristocaulis is a perennial species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera, the only member of the subgenus Meristocaulis. It is a small, rosette- and branched stem-forming sundew that has many morphological affinities to the Australian pygmy sundews. D. meristocaulis is wholly endemic to Pico da Neblina, an isolated mountain on the Brazil-Venezuela border.
Carnivorous Plants of Australia is a three-volume work on carnivorous plants by Allen Lowrie. The three tomes were published in 1987, 1989, and 1998, by University of Western Australia Press.
Drosera pulchella, a type of pygmy sundew , is a species of carnivorous plant native to southwestern Australia. As their common name suggests, they are a small species that usually 15 to 20 millimeters wide. They typically grow in clusters that completely cover an area like a patch of moss. The namesake sticky dew at the ends of their leaves is designed to trap insects so that the plants can absorb nutrients as the insect decomposes.
Drosera citrina is a species of pygmy sundew in the family Droseraceae. It is a carnivorous plant is native to Western Australia. The Latin specific epithet citrina means "lemon coloured", referring to the colour of the flowers. It is closely related to Drosera nivea, which was considered a variety of D. citrina in the past called Drosera citrina var. nivea
Drosera nivea is a species of carnivorous plant. It is a pygmy sundew and is native to Western Australia. The specific epithet nivea is derived from the Latin word niveus, meaning white, in reference to the colour of the plant's flower. It is closely related to Drosera citrina and has previously been considered a variety of D.citrina known as D. citrina var. nivea.
Drosera albonotata is a species of pygmy sundew native to Western Australia. It was first described by Alastair Robinson, Adam Cross, Manfred Meisterl and Andreas Fleischmann in 2018.
