''Drosera erythrorhiza'', the red ink sundew, is a

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 ...

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

ous species in the

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 ...

genus ''

Drosera ''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 ...

'' that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It grows in a rosette and is distinguished from the other species in section '' Erythrorhiza'' by its many-flowered cymose

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 o ...

s with up to 50 individual flowers. ''D. erythrorhiza'' was first described by

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

in his 1839 publication '' A sketch of the vegetation of the Swan River Colony''. In 1992, N. G. Marchant and

Allen Lowrie Allen Lowrie (10 October 1948 - 30 August 2021) was a Western Australian botanist. He was recognised for his expertise on the genera ''Drosera'' and '' Stylidium''.Council of Heads of Australasian HerbariaResources of Australian Herbaria: Western ...

described three new

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

, thus also creating the

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

''D. erythrorhiza'' subsp. ''erythrorhiza''.Marchant, N. and A. Lowrie. 1992. New names and new combinations in 34 taxa of Western Australian tuberous and pygmy ''Drosera''. ''Kew Bulletin'', 47(2): 315-328. The subspecies were separated from this variable species mostly by

leaf morphology The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflet (bo ...

and distribution.Rice, Barry. 2008
The tuberous rosetted ''Drosera''
The Carnivorous Plant FAQ v. 11.5. Accessed online: 21 February 2009. ''D. erythrorhiza'' subsp. ''collina'' is named for its native hilly habitat and typically has more leaves of various shapes within the same rosette. ''D. erythrorhiza'' subsp. ''erythrorhiza'' has fewer, wider leaves as compared to ''D. erythrorhiza'' subsp. ''magna'', which has larger (wider) leaves and frequently has more of them. Finally, ''D. erythrorhiza'' subsp. ''squamosa'' was originally described by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

in 1864 at the species rank as ''Drosera squamosa''. Marchant and Lowrie reduced it to the subspecies rank under ''D. erythrorhiza''. Subspecies ''squamosa'' differs from subsp. ''erythrorhiza'' in the appearance of red leaf margins caused by the dense red

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s. Earlier, in his 1906 taxonomic monograph of the

Droseraceae Droseraceae is a family (biology), family of carnivorous flowering plants, also known as the sundew family. It consists of approximately 180 species in three Extant taxon, extant genera. Representatives of the Droseraceae are found on all conti ...

Ludwig Diels Dr. Friedrich Ludwig Emil Diels (24 September 1874 – 30 November 1945) was a German botanist. Diels was born in Hamburg, the son of the classical scholar Hermann Alexander Diels. From 1900 to 1902 he traveled together with Ernst Georg Prit ...

introduced a new

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, ''D. erythrorhiza'' var. ''imbecilla''.Diels, L. 1906. Droseraceae ''In'' Engler, A. ''Das Pflanzenreich''. IV. 112. A competing taxonomy was developed and introduced by

Jindřich Chrtek Jindřich is a given name. It is the Czech version of the English name Henry. People with the name include: *Jindřich Bačkovský (1912–2000), Czech physicist * Jindřich Balcar (born 1950), Czechoslovak ski jumper who competed from 1974 to 19 ...

and Zdeňka Slavíková in 1999 where the authors argue for the reclassification of the tuberous ''Drosera'' (encompassing all of ''Drosera'' subgenus '' Ergaleium'') into

Johann Georg Christian Lehmann Johann Georg Christian Lehmann (25 February 1792 – 12 February 1860) was a German botanist. Born at Haselau, near Uetersen, Holstein, Lehmann studied medicine in Copenhagen and Göttingen, obtained a doctorate in medicine in 1813 and a doct ...

's 1844 genus ''Sondera'' that had been reduced to a synonym of ''Drosera''. In doing so, Chrtek and Slavíková elevated Marchant and Lowrie's subspecies and established the following species: ''Sondera collina'', ''S. erythrorhiza'', ''S. magna'', and ''S. squamosa''.Chrtek, J. and Z. Slavíková. 1999. Genera and families of the Droserales order. Novit. Bot. Univ. Carol. 13: 39-46. This reclassification, however, is not widely followed.

References

External links

* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5308518 Carnivorous plants of Australia Caryophyllales of Australia erythrorhiza Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1839