''Drosera capillaris'', the pink or spathulate-leaved sundew (not to be confused with ''

Drosera spatulata ''Drosera spatulata'', the spoon-leaved sundew, is a variable, rosette-forming sundew with spoon-shaped leaves. The specific epithet is Latin for "spatula shaped," a reference to the form of the leaves. This sundew has a large range and occurs n ...

''), is a small

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryot ...

of the family Droseraceae in the genus '' Drosera''. They are frequently found in wet pine flatwoods and

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s of the southeastern United States, ranging from eastern Texas east to Florida and north to Virginia, as well as in some areas of the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. They thrive in moist, acidic soil. ''D. capillaris'' is a small plant, usually ranging from 2 to 4 cm in diameter, but in wet habitats it has been known to grow up to 7 cm. In strong sun the entire plant appears red with round, spoon-shaped leaf blades sporting numerous tentacles. In normal light, the leaves are lime-green and the tentacles red. The leaves are arranged in a rosette and generally lie flat on the ground. Some individuals of this species act as annuals and some as perennials.

Germination 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 ...

occurs throughout the fall, and germination time varies over a matter of months. The flowers are pink and typically show up in April. However, these plants flower over a huge range of times and sizes, and some individuals complete their life cycles within a year while others survive for two or more years. It is not unusual to see ''D. capillaris'', along with their relative the ''

Drosera brevifolia ''Drosera brevifolia'' (the dwarf, small or red sundew), is a carnivorous plant of the family Droseraceae and is the smallest sundew species native to the United States. This species differs considerably from the pink sundew, '' Drosera capilla ...

'' (the dwarf sundew), carpet large areas so thickly it is hard to walk without stepping on tens of them growing out of wet sand or long-fiber sphagnum or just overflowing from a road-side ditch. Both sundews commonly live side-by-side with American pitcher plants ('' Sarracenia''), butterworts, and bladderworts.

References

''Drosera capillaris'' Poir. at Wildflower.org
{{Taxonbar, from=Q146117 Carnivorous plants of North America capillaris Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the Caribbean Plants described in 1804 Flora without expected TNC conservation status