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Drosera capensis
Drosera capensis, the Cape sundew, is a small perennial carnivorous rosette plant from the Cape region of South Africa that traps insects on sticky leaves. It is one of the easiest and most widely grown sundews, and it needs constantly wet, nutrient-poor conditions.
Drosera capensis (), the Cape sundew, is a perennial rosette-forming carnivorous herb in the flowering plant family Droseraceae. It is native to the Cape region of South Africa, where it grows in permanently wet, nutrient-poor habitats. Its elongated, roughly oblong leaves are held semi-erect and have a distinct petiole. It is quite a variable plant with several recognised growth forms, some of which develop a short stem. As in all sundews, the leaves are covered in stalked glands that secrete sticky mucilage. These attract, trap, and digest arthropod prey, obtaining nutrients that supplement intake from the substrate in which the plant grows. D. capensis has dramatically mobile leaves that curl around captured prey, preventing its escape and facilitating digestion.
First recorded in the late 17th century, D.
D. capensis is one of the most widely cultivated sundews. It is a relatively large, 'showy' species whose leaves exhibit dramatic movement in response to prey capture. It is easily propagated, grows rapidly, readily produces attractive flowers, and is considered very easy to grow.
The native range of D. capensis spans the full width of the south coast of the Western Cape province, extending north from Cape Town to Gifberg and eastward into the Eastern Cape as far as Port Elizabeth. It has been reported from Brandfontein near Bredasdorp; Elim; Houwhoek; Ceres; near the N7 road between Clanwilliam and Citrusdal; the Verlorenvlei River; Hermanus; Paarl; Table Mountain National Park; Diep River near Plumstead; Riversdale including the Korinte River; Franschhoek; Jonkershoek; Viljoenspas; the Tradouw Pass; Tulbagh Kloof; Theewaterskloof; and Bainskloof.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Drosera capensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
