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| *See credits below |
Britton and Brown. See
credits below.** |
| Botanical name: |
Drosera rotundifolia L. |
| Common
name: |
round-leaved sundew |
| Synonomy: |
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| Group: |
Dicot |
| Family: |
Droseraceae |
| Growth
Type: |
Forb/herb |
| Duration: |
Perennial |
| Origin: |
Native |
| Plant
height: |
5 to 25 cm |
| Foliage: |
basal rosette |
| Flower
color: |
white to pale pink flowers grow on one side of a single, slender, hairless stalk; 5 petals |
| Flower
size: |
4-5 mm |
| Flowering/fruiting time |
early July to late August |
| Habitat: |
wet, peaty, acid soils of bogs, cedar swamps |
| Range
in
New Jersey: |
locally common in bogs throughout the state |
| Heritage ranking if any: |
n/a |
| Distribution: |
 |
| Misc.: |
Drosera, from the Greek, droseros (droseros), "dewy, watery"; rotundifolia, from the Latin, "round leaved";
Sundews
trap insects on the sticky, muciligenic hairs then digest them. New
Jersey has three species of sundews: spatulate leaved (intermedia),
round leaved (rotundifolia) and thread leaved (filiformis).
Witmer Stone, in 1910, wrote: "In the Pine Barrens this species seems
to be the least abundant of the three Sundews, but it is the
characteristic species of the cedar swamps where the others do not seem
to occur. Here it rows dep down in the soft wet billowy masses of
sphagnum moss, its slender flower stalk rising sometimes to a height of
eight or ten inches. In open places, it is much more stunted"" (468).
In the winter, D. rotundifolia produces a tightly curled leaf bud called a hibernaculum, in order to survive the cold.
Blooms slightly later than Drosera rotundifolia; D. filiformous blooms earliest.
Watch a you-tube video of D. rotundifolia eating an insect
D. rotundifolia is an anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic according to D.H. Hall, et. al.
Mary
Treat of Vineland researched Droseraceae and corresponded with Charles
Darwin regarding her research. For more information on this
correspondence, visit NJ Pines.
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Sources
*Lee Casebere @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. 1995. Northeast wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. Northeast National Technical Center, Chester.
**USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 1: 519. |
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