You might be old enough to remember when a carnivorous plant called a Venus Fly-trap became an almost overnight fad. This fascinating species - what Charles Darwin, back in 1875, called 'one of the most wonderful in the world', is native to just North Carolina and can catch and digest prey as large as a frog. Related to the Venus Flytrap, but with a more passive method of catching insects, is the Sundew. There are around 40 species of Sundew native to Australia out of 194 world-wide. A few years back I sent this photo to the South Australia Museum and staff there identified it as a Sundew, but not which species. I do believe that it is Drosera aberrans, the Scented Sundew. Classed as a herb, this carnivore secretes a sweet sticky substance on its leaves that both attracts and traps insects. Next, enzymes dissolve the prey into a nutrient soup that is then absorbed through the leaf surface. 'Eating' insects allows the Sundew to thrive in poor soils devoid of essential nutrients, such as nitrogen, and some species can live up to 50 years.
Oh, and the plants are smaller than in the photos - the leaves measure around 20mm - otherwise these could probably catch frogs and eat them too.
1 Comment
Angel B
26/8/2018 11:06:49 pm
Never trust white.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
February 2019
January - Grass Tree
February - Kangaroo Apple - Large-leaf Grevillea March - Silver Banksia April - Drooping Sheoak May - Correa June - Grevillea July - Buddleja August - Sundews September - Native Hibiscus October - Running Postman November - Hakea December - Sticky Hop Bush |