Drosera natalensis — Vorstman's Guide to the Carnivorous Plants

Drosera natalensis — the flower — **The flower** · Photo: Michal Rubeš — CC BY 3.0 cz · Wikimedia Commons

Identification

A flat to semi-erect rosette of spatulate leaves tapering gradually into the petiole, with red tentacles on the upper surface and along the margin. Characteristic are the strongly hairy stipules at the leaf base and a fairly large gap between the leaf base and the first tentacles. The scape carries pink flowers. Published measurements from a flora were not available for this text; the measurement fields are left empty.

Similar species

Drosera aliciae from the Cape is very similar but has less hairy stipules and its tentacles begin closer to the leaf base. Within its own range D. natalensis can grow with D. burkeana and D. madagascariensis; the latter forms a stem, the former has shorter, broader blades. Drosera dielsiana is smaller and grows further inland in grassland.

The trap and how it works

An active flypaper trap. Insects landing on the sticky droplets are caught; the surrounding tentacles then bend towards the prey and the glands secrete digestive enzymes. On the wet sand flats the plant catches mainly gnats and small flies.

Habitat and ecology

Wet, acid and nutrient-poor sandy soils near the coast: seasonally wet hollows, marsh margins and open, waterlogged grassland on sand (W4, W7, D1). The plant needs open, sunny ground; tall vegetation or encroaching scrub crowds it out.

Distribution and elevation

Eastern South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal), Mozambique and Madagascar. This departs from the label 'Cape mountains' in this guide's working list: the species is not a Cape mountain plant but a lowland species of the eastern coastal plain. 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 85 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

No varieties are recognised. The relationship to the Cape D. aliciae group and to D. nidiformis has been discussed in the literature; in Kew's current lists D. natalensis is accepted as a distinct species.

Where and when to see it

In KwaZulu-Natal the plant grows in the wet summer. Search the marshy sand flats behind the coastal dunes, often in protected areas. In the sun the rosettes are red and stand out well against the white sand.

Conservation status

Not assessed for the global IUCN Red List and not listed in CITES. The range is fairly large and spread over three countries. Locally sites are lost to eucalyptus and pine plantations, drainage and coastal development.

Scientific name

Drosera natalensis | Diels, 1906

Drosera natalensis was described in 1906 by the German botanist Ludwig Diels, in H.G.A. Engler (ed.), Das Pflanzenreich, IV.112 (Heft 26), p. 93. The species occurs in Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa (notably KwaZulu-Natal). The name points to an origin in the historic region of Natal, but the precise type locality, collector and collection date could not be established with certainty. The name is a toponym: the Latin suffix "-ensis" ("from, belonging to") combined with "Natal" yields "of Natal", referring to the former South African colony/province of Natal (now largely the province of KwaZulu-Natal), where the species was apparently first found or is most characteristic.

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