''Drosera viridis'' is a semi-erect or rosetted

perennial 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 ...

species in the

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants still generate some of their energy from photosynthesis. Ca ...

genus ''

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

''. It is known only from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, being found in eastern Paraná and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

and central Santa Catarina at elevations from . It may, however, also be found in adjacent

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. It typically grows in waterlogged habitats among grasses in white-clayey, reddish

lateritic Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop b ...

, or humus-rich black-brown soils and is sometimes found submerged with only the leaves above water.Rivadavia, Fernando. 2003
Four new species of sundews, ''Drosera'' (Droseraceae), from Brazil.
''

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 ...

'', 32(3): 79-92. ''Drosera viridis'' produces carnivorous leaves that are

spatulate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...

, about 5 to 28 mm long, and entirely green, even when exposed to full sun, unlike the related '' D. communis'' whose leaves turn red in full sunlight. Each plant produces one to three erect or ascending

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 ...

s, which are long, including the scape. Each inflorescence bears two to twelve light to dark lilac-colored flowers. It can be found flowering year-round, though more plants are in flower during the wet season from December to March. This species has a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 20.Rivadavia, Fernando. 2005
New chromosome numbers for ''Drosera'' L. (Droseraceae).
''

'', 34(3): 85-91. ''Drosera viridis'' is closely related to ''D. communis'' and often occurs in the same regions with it, but ''D. viridis'' is restricted to a more narrow range of wet habitats. Where ''D. viridis'' and ''D. communis'' are

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species s ...

, a few specimens have been found that may be hybrids, though they were weak, indicating that the resulting hybrid cross between these two is rare, infertile, and may not reach maturity. This species was first described by botanist Fernando Rivadavia in a 2003 issue of the ''

'', along with three other new ''Drosera'' species from Brazil. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

was collected by Rivadavia and M. R. F. Cardoso on 2 February 1996. Other specimens were grown under greenhouse conditions for further observation. Rivadavia chose the specific epithet ''viridis'' to refer to the green color of the plants even when exposed to full sun.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5308562 Carnivorous plants of South America viridis Flora of Brazil Plants described in 2003

See also

References