Sunday, September 16, 2007

Sundew Plants Return

Warmer weather has seen the emergence of sundew plants.
These insectivorous plants live near water on the nutrient poor sandy soils that are characteristic of their preferred environment.
Having died back for winter, they reemerge as the weather warms and supplement their needs by catching small insects with sticky droplets, pictured below.





There are a number of different forms of the sundew plant, and I have seen two varieties in the area where this shot was taken. The other being more linear in shape to those pictured here.

2 comments:

  1. Fantastic photos, David, especially the close-up with all those silvery droplets. Brilliant.
    Denis

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  2. hi David,

    beaut pictures of a fabulous subject.

    I wasn't aware that the sundews died back, so that's interesting.

    I have seen a sundew species in the Hunter Valley for the first time recently, and they were in bud. So I'll be revisiting the site shortly to see their progress.

    When I was in Western Australia last year, the number and variety of sundews was simply amazing. I have many photos that I haven't even begun to attempt to identify yet.

    Cheers,
    Gaye

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