WHAT ARE DROSERA?

Drosera or Sundews are a group of beautiful carnivorous plants.They use an active glue trap much like a fly paper trap. The tentacle-covered leaves come in various shapes and forms making them a very interesting plant to cultivate and collect. At the end of each tentacle the plant produces a droplet of sticky substance that looks like morning dew when the sun shines on it, thus the name Sundews. The droplets of “dews” promise sweet delicious nectar to unsuspecting insects. They can be as small as 1cm in diameter or as big as 2-3 feet in diameter. Some are annuals, while others are perennials.

HOW TO GROW DROSERA:

Drosera come in a wide variety of forms and from all around the world, the common name applied to these fascinating plants is Sundews. Currently there are something like 130 different varieties available with differing growing needs. Some look like tiny bottle brushes whilst others resemble tall slender reeds. All of them have tiny tentacles tipped with a globule of glue like material which is used to trap their prey. They range in colour from pales green through red but most of them have red tips on the tentacles. The leaves of Sundews are semi active, when they capture prey the leaf will close in around it and dissolve the insect with enzymes that are secreted by usually the central part of the leaf. Sundews will produce flowers in the spring and summer which can be white, pink or yellow and are borne of slender stems which are usually an inch or two above the tentalces. The plant pictured below is Drosera capensis and the leaves reach a height of between 3 and 4 inches in length with the top third having the sticky tips.