| Drosera whittakeri | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Droseraceae |
| Genus: | Drosera |
| Subgenus: | Drosera subg. Ergaleium |
| Section: | Drosera sect. Erythrorhiza |
| Species: | D. whittakeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Drosera whittakeri | |
Drosera whittakeri (scented sundew, Whittaker's sundew) is a sundew that is native to South Australia and Victoria. [1]
Plants are 4 to 8 cm in diameter, with broadly spathulate leaves arranged in a rosette. These may be green, orange-yellow or red in colour and are 10 to 15 mm long and 9 to 13 mm wide. [1] Up to 20 white flowers are produced overall, with multiple flowers open at any one time. [1] The main flowering period is May to November in its native range, but flowers may appear throughout the year. [2]
The species was formally described by Jules Émile Planchon in Annales des Sciences Naturelles in 1848 as Drosera "Whittakerii". [3] The species was named after Derbyshire botanist Joseph Whittaker who collected some 300 plant specimens from Adelaide and the southern Mount Lofty Ranges to Encounter Bay between 1839 and 1840. [1] : 163 Two subspecies are recognised by some authorities: [3]
In 2008, Allen Lowrie and John G. Conran elevated the former to species status, as Drosera aberrans . The authors also argue that Drosera praefolia should be considered a distinct species, rather than a synonym of D. whittakeri. [1]
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.
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 pedicellaris is a pygmy species of the sundew genus (Drosera). It was discovered in 1997 and described in 2002 by Allen Lowrie. It is endemic to Western Australia.
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 monticola is a perennial carnivorous plant species in the genus Drosera, the sundews. This species is endemic to a single mountain range in Western Australia.
Drosera stolonifera, sometimes referred to as the leafy sundew, is a tuberous perennial species in the genus Drosera that is endemic to Western Australia. It produces 2 to 3 semi-erect lateral stems that grow 10 to 15 cm long. It is most closely related to D. purpurascens, but differs by several characteristics including height and petiole length. It is native to a number of swampy locations around Perth south to Pinjarra. It grows in peaty water-logged soils in swamp heathland and flowers from September to October. After a bushfire it will flower en masse.
Drosera aberrans is a perennial tuberous species in the genus Drosera that is native to New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria. It grows in a rosette 3 to 5 cm in diameter with green, orange-yellow, or red leaves. It is native to southern inland South Australia, southern and central Victoria, and one single collection from New South Wales. It grows in a variety of soils from sand to laterite gravel and limestone clay in mallee woodland, heathland, and open forests. It flowers from July to September.
Drosera praefolia is a perennial tuberous species in the genus Drosera that is endemic to South Australia. It grows in a rosette 4 to 6 cm in diameter with green or sometimes red leaves. It is native to south-east South Australia from the southern Fleurieu Peninsula south to Kangaroo Island. It grows in lateritic clay-sand, loam, or decomposed shale soils in open woodland. It flowers from April to May.
Drosera schmutzii is a perennial tuberous species in the genus Drosera that is native to New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria. It grows in a rosette 3 to 4 cm in diameter with green to red leaves. It is entirely endemic to Kangaroo Island in South Australia and occurs mostly in the northern and eastern areas. It grows in sandy clay with laterite soils in open areas amongst Allocasuarina muelleriana and often in the presence of Stylidium tepperianum. It flowers from June to September.
Drosera erythrorhiza, the red ink sundew, is a perennial tuberous species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera that is endemic to Western Australia. It grows in a rosette and is distinguished from the other species in section Erythrorhiza by its many-flowered cymose inflorescences with up to 50 individual flowers. D. erythrorhiza was first described by John Lindley in his 1839 publication A sketch of the vegetation of the Swan River Colony. In 1992, N. G. Marchant and Allen Lowrie described three new subspecies, thus also creating the autonym D. erythrorhiza subsp. erythrorhiza. The subspecies were separated from this variable species mostly by leaf morphology and distribution.
Drosera zonaria, the painted sundew, is a perennial tuberous species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera and is endemic to south-west Western Australia from near Perth southeast to near Esperance. It grows in a tight rosette approximately 5 to 7 cm in diameter with 20 to 30 green to red leaves that are arranged in concentric layers. The leaves are typically 1 cm wide and are usually described as being "kidney-shaped" with crimson leaf margins. It grows in deep silica sands in open woodland or coastal heathland and only flowers after a bush fire, which is speculated to be caused by the release of ethylene. Its white, sweetly perfumed flowers, which are very similar to those of D. erythrorhiza, emerge on 4 to 5 cm tall scapes. As with most other tuberous Drosera species, D. zonaria will die back during the dry summer months and retreat to the fleshy tuber 10 to 30 cm below ground.
Drosera sect. Erythrorhiza is a section of 14 species of tuberous species in the genus Drosera. It represents a natural group of all the rosetted tuberous Drosera. Most species are endemic to Western Australia, but D. aberrans, D. praefolia, D. schmutzii, and D. whittakeri are also found in eastern Australia.
Drosera gigantea, the giant sundew, is an erect perennial tuberous species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera that is endemic to Western Australia. It grows in sandy soils at the margins of swamps and near granite outcrops along the Western Australian coast from Albany north to just south of Geraldton. D. gigantea produces small shield-shaped leaves along many lateral branches that look like a small tree. Individual plants can grow up to 0.2–1 m (0.7–3.3 ft) tall. Because of its tall, tree-like form, it is considered one of the largest Drosera species. It is also easily cultivated and enjoys damp, humid conditions often provided in greenhouses. White flowers emerge from August to November. The red tubers of this species can grow to be 3.8 cm (1.5 in) in diameter and may be a metre below ground.
Drosera sect. Ergaleium is a section of 26 species that are erect or scrambling tuberous plants in the genus Drosera. This section represents a natural group and are taxonomically monophyletic.
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.
Joseph Whittaker was a British botanist who visited South Australia in 1839. Whittaker has 300 plants from that trip in Kew Gardens and a large collection of pressed British plants in Derby Museum and Art Gallery.
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 omissa is a species of pygmy sundew from Western Australia.
Drosera hookeri, the grassland sundew is an shortly erect perennial tuberous species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera. Drosera hookeri is found in south-eastern Australia. Although the holotype was collected in Tasmania, its distribution also includes Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. This species has a complex taxonomic history, and its specific epithet acknowledges the original recognition of the taxon by Joseph Dalton Hooker. Hooker originally called his species Drosera foliosa Hook.f. ex Planch. in 1848, a name that was illegitimate as it had previously been used to describe a different species. The nomenclature of D. hookeri was later clarified and the taxonomic concept significantly broadened to include most of the south-eastern Australian and New Zealand forms of the species complex that includes Drosera peltata.
Media related to Drosera whittakeri at Wikimedia Commons