Drosera glanduligera
About
*Drosera glanduligera* is a striking, ephemeral annual sundew notable for its unique dual-action trapping mechanism, combining both sticky flypaper and snap trap features. It is commonly known as the pimpernel sundew or scarlet sundew.
Field notes
Morphology
It is a small herbaceous plant forming a convex to nearly flat rosette with 15 to 20 concave spathulate leaves, measuring 8–20 mm long. The leaves feature sticky glue-tentacles at the center and non-sticky snap-tentacles around the margins. When flowering, it produces an erect glandular-hirsute stem up to 10 mm tall bearing several orange flowers.
Distribution & habitat
Endemic to southern Australia, it is found across southern Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania (including Flinders Island), Victoria, and Western Australia.
Ecology
The trapping mechanism is unique, combining flypaper and snap trap features. Outer snap-tentacles catapult prey onto the sticky glue-tentacles at the leaf center, which slowly draw the prey into the concave depression over about two minutes for digestion.
Cultivation notes
Germination requires cool temperatures (1–8 °C) at night and warmer temperatures (15–25 °C) during the day. Plants must be kept well fed, either with natural prey or diluted foliar fertilizer.
History & etymology
The species was first described by Johann Georg Christian Lehmann in 1844. In 1848, Jules Émile Planchon initially split the genus Drosera, placing D. glanduligera as the sole member of section Coelophylla.
Conservation
Assessed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Australia
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- intermediate