Range: Southwestern Australia, east-northeast of Perth

 

A unique orange-flowered pygmy sundew closely related to D. miniata, this species is known from a small range east of the city of Perth in what is referred to as the Wheatbelt region, where it grows on woodland ridges around gravel slopes with clay-loam soils usually in sparsely scattered populations. It can grow to just over 2 cm in diameter, rarely with stems present and instead typically a flat rosette. The petiole is distinct and flat, broadest in the middle of the length and constricting slightly where it meets the elliptic lamina. Coloration ranges from purely green with mildly red tentacle heads to heavily flushed scarlet with red lamina and maroon tentacles. Flower stalks are wiry, semi-glandular particularly near the apex, and bear buds on short pedicels in the cyme. Flowers often exceed the width of the plant at up to 2.8 cm across (the second largest in the pygmies), with large pandurate (fiddle-shaped) petals bearing sometimes overlapping wider bases below the constriction. Color is overall metallic orange, with a black central vein at the base of the petals fading out to maroon-red as it branches into the petal body and flanked by basal white patches and occasionally small black marks on base the petal edges. Filaments and styles are also black to purple. This species is distinguished from close relatives by the unique petal shape and  flower size, white petal patches, and dark branching veins, among other traits.

 

Cultivation: grow in a 3:2 or greater ratio of sand/peat soil, kept moist and moderately humid with cool temperatures through the winter growing season. In summer, maintain the cool and moist conditions, otherwise heat and dry soil can trigger dormancy. Sow seeds (may require heat stratification or smoke treatment) and gemmae on soil surface, and grow in strong artificial light to full sun.

 

Lifespan and reproduction: short-lived perennial. Reproduces via seeds and gemmae, and may be propagable via leaf pullings.

 

Sources: Robinson, A. S. et al. (2018). A new pygmy sundew, Drosera albonotata (Droseraceae), from the western Wheatbelt and an updated diagnostic key to the orange-flowered pygmy Drosera of Western Australia. Phytotaxa 346 (3): 221-236.