Drosera affinis — Vorstman's Guide to the Carnivorous Plants

Drosera affinis — the trap in close-up — **The trap in close-up** · Photo: Daderot in cultivation — CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Identification

A sundew that, like D. madagascariensis, can form an ascending stem with scattered leaves; the leaves have a narrow petiole and a small glandular trapping blade. The flowers are pink to purple. Reliable measurements from a flora were not available for this text; the measurement fields are left empty.

Similar species

Drosera madagascariensis is its closest relative and main confusion species; the two are separated on details of leaf, calyx and seed. Drosera elongata also has an elongated stem. The rosette species D. burkeana and D. dielsiana form no stem.

The trap and how it works

An active flypaper trap. The trapping leaves are spread along the stem, so the plant catches at different heights among grasses and sedges. After contact the tentacles bend towards the prey and the glands secrete enzymes.

Habitat and ecology

Wet, open places on the plateaux: dambos (shallow, seasonally wet valley floors), marsh margins, seeps and wet grassland in miombo woodland and savanna (W4, W7, B6).

Distribution and elevation

Southern tropical Africa, from Angola east through Zambia and southern DR Congo to Zimbabwe, and possibly further to Malawi and Tanzania. Altitudinal limits were not found.

Recorded (one-degree cells)

Distribution based solely on records at GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility), not on TDWG regions — those are often far larger than the actual range. The light halo is the area around a record, the dark core the record itself. The darker cells are 32 one-degree squares — roughly a hundred and ten kilometres — in which the species has been recorded, from all GBIF records. This is coarser than for most species because hardly any record of this plant carries an accurate coordinate: the locality of poached species is obscured at source. At this scale that obscuring disappears into the noise. The cells show where it has been seen, not where it occurs: an empty square means nothing.

Forms and variation

The species is closely related to D. madagascariensis and in some older works is confused with it or even placed under it. No varieties are recognised.

Where and when to see it

Search in the rainy season (November to April) in dambos and along streams on the plateaux. The plant grows up among the grass; look for red trapping blades on long stalks.

Conservation status

Assessed on the IUCN Red List as Least Concern; not in CITES. Dambos are locally cleared for gardens and farming, but the range is large.

Scientific name

Drosera affinis | Welwitsch ex Oliver, 1871

Described by Friedrich Welwitsch (manuscript name validated by Daniel Oliver), in "Flora of Tropical Africa", volume 2, p. 402 (1871). In the same publication, the authors also described the closely related Drosera flexicaulis, now considered a synonym. The precise type locality could not be established with certainty. The species occurs in wet savanna areas across Angola, DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Congo, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. From the Latin affinis ("related, resembling") — a commonly used descriptive epithet indicating resemblance to a related species; which species was specifically meant could not be confirmed.

World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), via Plants of the World Online (POWO), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.