''Drosera kaieteurensis'' is a plant from the sundew family ( Droseraceae).

Morphology

''Drosera kaieteurensis'' is a perennial herbaceous plant, naturally from the tepuis of

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. It grows in rosettes with diameters of 6–8 mm, on short stems. The leaves are circular to oval, mostly red, 2–3 mm long and 2 to 2.5 mm wide. The upper surface of the leaf is densely covered with red glandular hairs that secrete a sticky mucilage. The

stipules In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

are 2.5 to 4 millimeters long, about 1 mm wide, rectangular and membranous.Correa A., Mireya D., Silva, Tania Regina Dos Santos: Drosera (Droseraceae) In: Flora Neotropica, Monograph 96, New York, 2005. The one to three inflorescences are 13 to 60 mm long and have two to nine flowers. The inflorescence axis is one to three cm long, covered with filiform trichomes. The petals are white or pink. The seed capsules open longitudinally along the capsule walls, and the elliptical seeds are thrown out by the impact of a raindrop from the seed capsule.Andreas Fleischmann, Andreas Wistuba, Stewart McPherson: ''Drosera solaris (Droseraceae), a new sundew from the Guayana Highlands.'' In: ''Willdenowia.'' 37, 2007, 551-555

Carnivory

As with all ''Drosera'', this plant feeds on insects, which are attracted to the bright red colour and the glistening drops of mucilage, loaded with a sugary substance, covering its leaves. It has evolved this

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

activity in response to its habitat, which is usually poor in nutrients or is so acidic that nutrient availability is severely diminished. The plant uses

enzymes Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...

to dissolve the insects – which become stuck to the glandular trichomes – and extract ammonia (from proteins) and other nutrients from their bodies. The ammonia replaces the nitrogen that most plants absorb through their roots.

Distribution

''Drosera kaieteurensis'' is found in the tepuis on the border area of

and Venezuela, at altitudes of 460-2400m, on sandy soils or on moss-grown rock. There may also be occurrences in Trinidad and Tobago.

Taxonomy

This species is closely related to ''Drosera solaris'' (''Drosera felix'' was considered a close relative, but is now thought to be a

synonym 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 ...

). Seed dispersal is a common feature.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1260444 kaieteurensis Carnivorous plants of South America Endemic flora of Guyana Flora of the Tepuis