Drosera burkeana — Vorstman's Guide to the Carnivorous Plants

Identification

A flat rosette of short, broad, obovate to almost round blades on a short petiole, with red tentacles. The scape rises from the centre of the rosette and carries a few white to pink flowers. Reliable published measurements were not available for this text; the measurement fields are left empty.

Similar species

Drosera dielsiana, D. collinsiae and D. natalensis have longer, more spatulate leaves. Drosera madagascariensis forms a stem with scattered leaves on long petioles. Outside Africa the round blade superficially resembles that of D. rotundifolia, but that species does not occur in Africa.

The trap and how it works

An active flypaper trap. The round blades lie flat on the wet ground and catch mainly crawling and low-flying small insects such as springtails and gnats. After contact the tentacles bend towards the prey and the glands digest the soft parts.

Habitat and ecology

Seasonally wet places in grassland, savanna and open woodland: waterlogged hollows, seeps and marsh margins (W4, W7, B6). In the dry season the rosette often dies back or survives in a resting form.

Distribution and elevation

Tropical and southern Africa, from northern South Africa into East and Central Africa, and Madagascar. Altitudinal limits were not found.

Recorded (quarter-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 35 quarter-degree squares in which the species has actually been recorded, from GBIF and only from records accurate to within five kilometres. They show where it has been seen, not where it occurs: an empty square means nothing. For threatened species this layer never goes finer than a whole degree, deliberately.

Forms and variation

Across so large a range the species varies in size and flower colour (white to pink). No varieties are recognised in current lists; local forms are insufficiently studied.

Where and when to see it

Search in the rainy season in waterlogged hollows in grassland where water stands after rain. The rosettes are small and lie flat; they are best seen on hands and knees.

Conservation status

Assessed on the IUCN Red List as Least Concern; not in CITES. The large range makes the species little vulnerable, although wet grasslands are lost locally to agriculture and building.

Scientific name

Drosera burkeana | Planchon, 1848

Described by Jules Émile Planchon in 1848, in Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Botanique, series 3, volume 9, p. 192. Magaliesberg (rendered "Macalisberg" in older literature), North West Province, South Africa, collected by J. Burke. Named after James Burke, the collector of the type material.

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