''Drosophyllum'' ( , rarely ) is a genus of

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 ...

s containing the single species ''Drosophyllum lusitanicum'', commonly known as Portuguese sundew or dewy pine. In appearance, it is similar to the related 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 ...

'' (the sundews), and to the much more distantly related ''

Byblis In Greek mythology, Byblis or Bublis (Ancient Greek: Βυβλίς) was a daughter of Miletus. Her mother was either Tragasia, daughter of Celaenus; Parthenius, ''Erotica Pathemata'' 11 Cyanee, daughter of the river-god Meander, or Eidothea, d ...

'' (the rainbow plants).

Description

''Drosophyllum lusitanicum'' 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 ...

carnivorous plant with woody stems at the base, short, simple or rarely branched, tortuous or erect. Leaves are basal in a dense rosette, sessile, linear, sheathed, circinate, covered with sessile and pedunculated glands. The caulines are sessile, alternate, the upper bracteiform. Flowers are on top, racemiform or corymbiform and bear five yellow petals. The flower calyx has five lobes and is late deciduous. The plant has ten stamens and introrsal anthers.

Gynoecium Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

has five carpels. It has five styles, simple; capitate stigma. Fruit is in a unilocular capsule, and is partially divided into five locules, with irregular dehiscence by 3-5 teeth. Seeds are pear-shaped and rough, in diameter. The glandular

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

, which uncoil from a central rosette, lack the power of movement common to most sundews, but have the unusual characteristic of coiling 'outward' when immature (outward

circinate vernation Vernation (from ''vernal'' meaning ''spring'', since that is when leaves spring forth in temperate regions) is the formation of new leaves or fronds. In plant anatomy, it is the arrangement of leaves in a bud. In pine species, new leaves are short ...

). Seed germination may be aided by

scarification Scarification involves scratching, etching, burning/branding, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification or body art. The body modification can take roughly 6–12 months to heal. In the p ...

Distribution and habitat

''Drosophyllum lusitanicum'' is native to the western

Mediterranean region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

, through most of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, southwest

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and northern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

), and is one of the few carnivorous plants to grow in dry soil. It grows mainly in clearings of scrub (mainly heather), pine forests, evergreen forests (e.g. open

cork oak ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the cores ...

) and sunny

heaths 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 coole ...

. In dry places and silicon, gravel or shale substrates, somewhat disturbed. Strictly calcific species, from sea level up to in altitude.

Ecology

The plant has a distinct sweet aroma, which attracts the

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s upon which it preys. When insects land on the leaves, they find themselves stuck to the

mucilage Mucilage is a thick, gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists which use it for their locomotion. The direction of their movement is always opposite to that of the secretion of m ...

secreted by the stalked glands on the leaves. The more the insects struggle, the more ensnared they become, ultimately dying of suffocation or exhaustion. The plant then secretes

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

s which dissolve the insects and release the nutrients, which are then absorbed by the plant. The plant uses these nutrients to supplement the nutrient-poor soil in which it grows. The genus had always been assumed to be closely allied to ''

'', and was previously placed in 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 ...

. Recent molecular and biochemical studies, however, place it in the monotypic Drosophyllaceae, as recommended by the

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that reflects new knowledge about plant relationships disco ...

, and allied with the

Dioncophyllaceae The Dioncophyllaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of three species of lianas native to the rainforests of western Africa. Their closest relatives are Ancistrocladaceae. Both families lie within a clade of mostly ...

('' Triphyophyllum'') and

Ancistrocladaceae ''Ancistrocladus'' is a genus of woody lianas in the monotypic family ''Ancistrocladaceae''. The branches climb by twining other stems or by scrambling with hooked tips. They are found in the tropics of the Old World. Classification The APG II ...

Classification

The

APG system The APG system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system) of plant classification is the first version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy. Published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, it was replaced by the improved AP ...

(1998) and

APG II system The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system) of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Gro ...

(2003) assign Drosophyllaceae to the order

Caryophyllales Caryophyllales ( ) is a diverse and heterogeneous order of flowering plants that includes the cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, beets, and many carnivorous plants. Many members are succulent, having fleshy stems or leaves. The betalai ...

in the clade

core eudicots The eudicots, Eudicotidae, or eudicotyledons are a clade of flowering plants mainly characterized by having two seed leaves upon germination. The term derives from Dicotyledons. Traditionally they were called tricolpates or non-magnoliid dicots ...

. ''D. lusitanicum'' had previously always been included in the family

, as it catches insects with a method reminiscent of that used by many plants in that family. Recent molecular and biochemical evidence (see th
AP-Website
suggests the carnivorous taxa in the order

(the families Droseraceae, Drosophyllaceae, Nepenthaceae, and the species '' Triphyophyllum peltatum'') all belong to the same

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

, which does not consist only of carnivorous plants, but also includes some noncarnivorous plants, such as those in the family

. Drosophyllum lusitanicum (4).JPG, ''Drosophyllum lusitanicum'' flower Drosophyllum lusitanicum Habitat 2011-4-21 SierraMadrona.jpg, ''Drosophyllum lusitanicum'' in its native habitat in gravel soil The Captured (15232198306).jpg, Detail of the coiling process and mucilaginous glands viscosity Young Drosophyllum (12374955755).jpg, ''Drosophyllum lusitanicum'' seedling (note the pear-shaped seed on the bottom) Drosophyllum lusitanicum Darwin14.png, An illustration of the mucilaginous glands by Darwin

References

External links

International carnivorous plant societyBotanical Society of America, ''Drosophyllum lusitanicum'' Link.
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q13107254, from2=Q736307 Monotypic Caryophyllales genera Carnivorous plants of Africa Carnivorous plants of Europe Flora of Morocco Flora of Portugal Flora of Spain Caryophyllales