Range; Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia, and southern coastal New Guinea

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Perhaps the only species confirmed to also grow in New Guinea rather than solely Australia, this plant is the type species of the wooly sundew group and grows in sandy soils near semi-permanent waterways or wet scrub habitats that may flood in the wet season. Plants develop usually flat rosettes up to 10 cm in diameter, with narrow almost linear to slightly linear-obovate petioles that start out with but lose a covering of white hairs with age, tipped in rounded lamina up to 0.5 cm wide. Coloration is typically green to slightly tinted red in the petioles, lamina green or red-flushed with bright red tentacles. Inflorescences may reach 20 cm tall, covered in fine white hairs and bearing up to 20 blooms that age to pendulous fruits. Flowers are up to 1.7 cm in diameter, with obovate crenate-tipped petals that range from white to pale or even dark purple-pink. This species is distinguished from its relatives by extremely minute details: two different types of hairs, one simple and the other with short spurs along its length, distributed together across the plant. Range, which extends to New Guinea, also distinguishes this species.

 

Cultivation: grow in a 3:2 sand/peat mix, kept very moist and humid with temps of 80-95°F year round. When plants regress into dormancy, let pot dry to barely damp until growth appears again. Sow seeds on soil surface (older seeds may benefit from smokewater or GA3 treatment though this is still debated), and grow in strong artificial light to full sun.

 

Lifespan and reproduction: perennial. Reproduces through seed, and can be grown through leaf pullings or division.

 

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