''Drosera stolonifera'', sometimes referred to as the leafy sundew, is a

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

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 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 produces 2 to 3 semi-erect lateral stems that grow 10 to 15 cm long. It is most closely related to '' D. purpurascens'', but differs by several characteristics including height and petiole length. It is native to a number of swampy locations around

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

south to Pinjarra. It grows in

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

y water-logged soils in swamp

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

and flowers from September to October. After a bushfire it will flower ''en masse''.

Taxonomy

The

type specimens 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 t ...

were collected by

Charles von Hügel Charles von Hügel (born Carl Alexander Anselm Baron von Hügel; 25 April 1795 – 2 June 1870), sometimes spelt in English Huegel, was an Austrian nobleman, army officer, diplomat, botanist, and explorer, now primarily remembered for his tra ...

in the Swan River region in 1833. ''D. stolonifera'' was formally described by

Stephan Endlicher Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804, Bratislava (Pozsony) – 28 March 1849, Vienna) was an Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. Bio ...

in his Enumeratio plantarum in 1837. For many years, different varieties and morphs of this species were included in the ''D. stolonifera'' complex. Several of these forms and varieties were eventually described as

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 ...

, which were then later elevated to species rank upon further examination. Much of the decision on how to deal with the species complex deals with a discussion of

lumpers and splitters Lumpers and splitters are opposing factions in any discipline that has to place individual examples into rigorously defined categories. The lumper–splitter problem occurs when there is the desire to create classifications and assign examples to ...

. The debate began as early as 1906 when

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 ...

reduced Jules Émile Planchon's '' D. humilis'' to a variety of ''D. stolonifera'', thus also creating the autonym ''D. stolonifera'' var. ''stolonifera''. Then in 1982 N. G. Marchant described several subspecies: * ''D. stolonifera'' subsp. ''compacta'' * ''D. stolonifera'' subsp. ''humilis'' * ''D. stolonifera'' subsp. ''rupicola''

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 ...

restored or elevated to species rank to '' D. purpurascens'', '' D. humilis'', and '' D. rupicola'', respectively. In 1992, Lowrie and Marchant together described several more subspecies: * ''D. stolonifera'' subsp. ''monticola'' * ''D. stolonifera'' subsp. ''porrecta'' * ''D. stolonifera'' subsp. ''prostrata''. Lowrie restored subsp. ''porrecta'' to '' D. porrecta'' and elevated subsp. ''prostrata'' to '' D. prostrata'' in 2005. When publishing the elevation of subspecies ''monticola'' to species rank, Lowrie did not include a correct page citation for the

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

, which under Article 33.4 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature made the new combined name invalid.International Organization for Plant Information (IOPI)
"Plant Name Search Results"
(HTML). International Plant Names Index. Retrieved on 28 January 2009. This was corrected in 2011 by Lowrie. That means that ''D. stolonifera stolonifera'' is now simply known as ''D. stolonifera'' with no subtaxa. Within the species, there are two morphs that Lowrie described in 2005, though not formally as a

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...

. He identified a typical variant from the swamplands that grows in peaty, sandy soils in winter-wet heaths and a "hills variant" that grows in well-drained clayey sands in

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with roug ...

woodlands and becomes redder as the foliage ages.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q148408 Carnivorous plants of Australia Caryophyllales of Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1837 stolonifera

Taxonomy

See also

References

External links