Range: extreme southwest Australia, Scott River region near Cape Leeuwin

 

This pygmy sundew is an inhabitant of black peat sands along swamp edges in the cool wet southwestern coast of Australia, spaces that may regularly flood in the wet season. It grows up to 2.5 cm in diameter, with a pincushion semi-erect rosette of slender paddle-shaped leaves. Petioles are tapered, widest at the base and narrowing outward, generally glabrous. Lamina are more slender and elliptic than most pygmies, often with a slight curve in them. Coloration tends to be bright green throughout, with tentacles pale orange to sometimes red enough to contribute a bicolor look to the plants. Inflorescences are up to 7 cm tall, relatively short, with an extremely sparse covering of very small clear glands, and may sport up to 30 blooms. Each flower is barely 0.6 cm in diameter, with slender elliptic petals that are narrowest at their base, and pure white with a clearish stripe near the base of each petal. It can be distinguished from relatives like stelliflora and paleacea by its tapering, elliptic-cross section petioles, very sparsely glandular inflorescence, elliptic and translucent-veined petals, and petals having a notable narrower section at their base.

 

Cultivation: grow in a 2:1 sand/peat mix in a deep pot, kept moist to wet and moderately humid with temperatures between 45-65°F in winter. In summer, avoid drying out entirely to prevent dormancy which is difficult to reverse, but keep drier and with temperatures between 70-90°F. Grow in strong artificial light to full sun, mimicking natural photoperiod cycles to trigger flower and gemmae production, and sow seeds and gemmae on soil surface (expect seeds to require hot stratification or other treatments to germinate).

 

Lifespan and reproduction: perennial. Reproduces through seed and gemmae, may possibly be propagated via leaf pullings.

 

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/145315365 Author Hugo Innes under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Lowrie et al. (2017). Drosera of the World Vol. 2. Redfern Natural History Publications.