''Drosera spatulata'', the spoon-leaved sundew, is a variable, rosette-forming

sundew ''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genus, genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucil ...

with spoon-shaped leaves. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for "spatula shaped," a reference to the form of the leaves. This sundew has a large range and occurs naturally throughout

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, southern China and Japan,

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, eastern Australia,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

.Bruce Salmon (2001). ''Carnivorous Plants of New Zealand''. Ecosphere Publications. Variants are often known by the localities in which they are found. The plant does not form hibernacula in winter, and is easily grown using the same methods as '' Drosera capensis''. Carnivorous plant growers consider ''D. spatulata'' to be a weed because it is very hardy and produces copious amounts of seed when it flowers. The seed also

germinate Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...

s without much difficulty, causing little plants to pop up in surrounding pots.

Description

''Drosera spatulata'' is a variable

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

that produces small rosettes of numerous

spathulate This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

leaves. This species is widely variable, but generally plants are about in diameter. Each leaf is attached to the central rosette by a narrow 8 mm long petiole that is only glandular on the upper half. Individual leaf laminae are typically 5 mm long and 4 mm wide. In early summer, plants will produce tall erect

scapes Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatta ...

with around six small white or pink flowers on each one-sided

racemose A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the sh ...

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

. Each flower can be up to 6 mm across.Gibson, R. 1994
Carnivorous plants of New Zealand: A review.
''

Carnivorous Plant Newsletter The ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' is the official publication of the International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS), the largest such organization in the world. It is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. History and editorship The newsle ...

'', 23(3): 74-81.

Taxonomy and botanical history

''Drosera spatulata'' was first described by

Jacques Labillardière Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the La Pérouse expedition. He pub ...

in his 1804 publication ''

Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen'' is a two-volume work describing the flora of Australia. Facsimiles of the originals can be found in the onlinBiodiversity Heritage Library (Vol.1)anVol 2) The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillar ...

''. In 1824, ''D. spatulata'' was included in a publication by

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...

, but misprinted as ''Drosera spathulata'', an incorrect spelling that is still common today. Since its original description, this species has been described under several other names, which have now been reduced to

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

. Two varieties have been described and are currently recognized, the first of which was described in 2005.Schlauer, J. 2010
World Carnivorous Plant List - Nomenclatural Synopsis of Carnivorous Phanerogamous Plants
Retrieved 7 April 2010. ''Drosera spatulata'' var. ''gympiensis'' was described in 2005 by Robert Gibson and Ivan Snyder, who cited its consistently hairy

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s with no

intergradation In zoology, intergradation is the way in which two distinct subspecies are connected via areas where populations are found that have the characteristics of both. There are two types of intergradation: primary and secondary intergradation. Primar ...

with the typical ''D. spatulata'' form.Gibson, R., and I. Snyder. 2005
''Drosera spatulata'' var. ''gympiensis'': The formal description of the 'hairy sepal' taxon from South-Eastern Queensland.
''

'', 34(2): 56-60. In 2009 another variety, ''Drosera spatulata'' var. ''bakoensis'', was described from

Bako National Park Bako National Park is a national park in Kuching Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. Established in 1957, it is the oldest national park in Sarawak. It covers an area of at the tip of the Muara Tebas peninsula at the mouth of the Bako and Kuching River ...

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

.Fleischmann, A. & C.C. Lee (2009)
A new variety of ''Drosera spatulata'' (Droseraceae) from Sarawak, Borneo
''

'' 38(1): 4–9.

Synonyms

*''D. loureirii'' Hook. &

Arn. George Arnott Walker Arnott of Arlary (6 February 1799 – 17 April 1868) was a Scottish botanist. Early life George Arnott Walker Arnott was born in Edinburgh in 1799, the son of David Walker Arnott of Arlary. He attended Milnathort Parish ...

*''D. lovellae'' F.M.Bail. *''D. minutula'' Col. *''D. propinqua'' Cunn. *''D. spatulata'' var. ''loureirii'' (Hook. & Arn.) Y.Z.Ruan *''D. triflora'' Col.

Cultivars

*''Drosera'' 'Hong Kong' *''Drosera'' 'Kanto' *''Drosera'' 'Ruby Slippers' *''Drosera'' 'Tamlin'

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q138176 Carnivorous plants of Asia Carnivorous plants of Australia Carnivorous plants of New Zealand Carnivorous plants of the Pacific spatulata Caryophyllales of Australia Flora of China Flora of Japan Flora of Hong Kong Flora of Taiwan Flora of Palau Flora of the Philippines Flora of Borneo Flora of New Guinea Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of Tasmania