Range: Southwest Australia, from roughly Enneaba to Cataby, north of Perth

 

This striking pygmy sundew is endemic to a narrow region of off-coastal laterite landscapes where rock crusts have broken down and mixed with sand above shallow bedrock slopes. Plants may reach up to 1.7 cm across, with a dense flat rosette of paddle leaves. Petioles are roughly parallel save for a slight widening near the midpoint, and nearly glabrous overall. Lamina are elliptic, near-orbicular, with a slight cup-shape and moderate to lengthy marginal tentacles at the tips. Coloration is generally bright to olive green with crimson lamina, occasionally blushing red into the petioles. Inflorescences may reach nearly 14 cm tall, with the peduncle region densely covered in short glandular hairs, and may bear up to 20 blooms. Flowers are impressively large relative to the plant at over 2 cm across, with broad obovate petals that are brilliant metallic orange with red-edged black bases and blackish-red whiplike stigmas. This species can be distinguished from its closest relatives by the dense peduncle covering of glandular hairs, obovate petals, and details of indented sepal structure.

 

Cultivation: Grow in a 3:1 perlite/coarse sand to peat soil mix, kept moderately moist and humid with temperatures of 45-70°F through the winter growing season. In summer allow temperatures and photoperiod to increase, but avoid drying out as dormant plants are difficult to reawaken at times. Sow gemmae or seeds on soil surface (seeds may require hot stratification or chemical scarification to germinate), and grow in strong artificial light to full sun.

 

Lifespan and reproduction: short-lived perennial. Reproduces through gemmae and occasionally seeds, and may possibly be propagated via leaf pullings.

 

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/164129004 Geoff Byrne under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Lowrie et al. (2017). Drosera of the World Vol. 2. Redfern Natural History Publications.