Sundews belong to the Drosera genus which is a member of a larger group commonly referred to as carnivorous plants. They are not the thing of nightmares but are delicate insectivorous plants found on every continent except Antarctica.
Although the south west of Western Australia is a hot spot for sundews many are also found in Australia’s tropical zones. Of the 130 known species, 100 are Australian.
‘Drosera’ means ‘dewey’ in Greek and are so named because of the way they sparkle in the morning dew and in the slanting rays of the afternoon sun.
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The characteristic that all sundews have in common is that the glandular hairs on their leaves produce a sticky secretion trapping unwary insects. The hairs bend over the prey and enzymes break down the soft parts of the insects’ bodies which are then absorbed by the plant to supplement the poor nutrition in the soils in which these plants grow. The digestion process can take up to three days. The sticky hairs also help the climbing species to cling to other shrubs.
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Sundews are herbaceous, represented by tiny rosettes as small as 2cm in diameter, often red, which grow flat on the ground or in
rock crevasses, or plants to 30cm tall or straggly climbing plants 1-2 metres long. The sizes mentioned are from my observations.
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Most sundews produce very delicate daisy-like flowers, with five petals, flowering in spring but only lasting for a few days. They can be white, pink, blue, or even a beautiful apricot colour. I guess if your flowers only last a short time you have to put on a good show to catch the pollinators. Like many plants they can be variable which sometimes makes it tricky to identify them.
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There are two surprising facts about the SW of WA sundews. Firstly, they often grow in areas that in the summertime are very dry and harsh but in the wintertime the soil in those areas can be quite moist, for instance, at the base of rocky outcrops where water collects after even light rainfall. Secondly, unlike their cousins elsewhere they mostly die down to a tuber in autumn. Even more surprising is that the dead layers around the tubers can be counted to reveal the age of the plant and some have been shown to be at least sixty years old. Those delicate looks can be deceiving!
Other means of reproduction are by seed or by cloning which often produces carpets of sundews.
Early settlers made dye for ink from some species and laboratory testing has shown that the enzymes in the plant could be useful for medicinal purposes. However, the greatest use of sundews seems to be in cultivation as curiosities.
As you can see from some of the photos these little gems can be hard to see in the wild if they are not in flower. Keeping your eyes peeled in the bush can be very rewarding.
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Min