Drosera

Also known as sundews

Drosera, which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surfaces. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which the plants grow. Various species, which vary greatly in size and form, are native to every continent except Antarctica.

AI overview

Drosera, commonly known as sundews, is a large group of carnivorous plants found on every continent except Antarctica that trap and digest insects using sticky, gland-covered leaves. These plants supplement their nutrient intake by feeding on insects because they grow in mineral-poor soils where traditional root absorption is insufficient.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Species

round-leaved sundew

Drosera

GENUS

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderCaryophyllales
FamilyDroseraceae

Native toAlabama, Alaska, Alberta, Aleutian Is., Altay, Amur, Angola, Antipodean Is., Argentina Northeast, Argentina South, Arkansas, Assam

Observations41,660

Observations recorded716,585

Common Name: madanadro

via GBIF · Kew POWO

Research

272 papers

Drosera-Inspired Dual-Actuating Double-Layer Hydrogel Actuator.Macromolecular rapid communications · 2021Kong X, Li Y, Xu W et al.DOI: 10.1002/marc.202100416
Phytochemistry of the carnivorous sundew genus Drosera (Droseraceae) - future perspectives and ethnopharmacological relevance.ReviewChemistry & biodiversity · 2013Egan PA, van der Kooy FDOI: 10.1002/cbdv.201200359
Drosera tokaiensis extract containing multiple phenolic compounds inhibits the formation of advanced glycation end-products.Archives of biochemistry and biophysics · 2020Tominaga Y, Sugawa H, Hirabayashi K et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2020.108586
Rapid flower closure of Drosera tokaiensis deters caterpillar herbivory.Biology letters · 2022Tagawa K, Osaki H, Watanabe MDOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0373
Drosera rotundifolia and Drosera tokaiensis suppress the activation of HMC-1 human mast cells.Journal of ethnopharmacology · 2009Fukushima K, Nagai K, Hoshi Y et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2009.06.009
Dramatic difference in rate of chromosome number evolution among sundew (Drosera L., Droseraceae) lineages.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2023Mohn RA, Zenil-Ferguson R, Krueger TA et al.DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpad153
Flavonoids as chemotaxonomic markers in the genus Drosera.Phytochemistry · 2015Braunberger C, Zehl M, Conrad J et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2015.08.017
Structural and functional characterization of chitinase from carnivorous plant Drosera adelae.FEBS open bio · 2025Yoneda K, Naruse Y, Suizu Y et al.DOI: 10.1002/2211-5463.70110

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Drosera spatulata KansaiHabit.jpg

Show 5 more facts

taxon common name: rosika
taxon name: Drosera
Commons category: Drosera
Commons gallery: Drosera
GRIN URL: npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomygenus.aspx?id=3993

Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~17 min read

Article

20 sections

Contents

Etymology
Taxonomy
Description
Growth form
Leaves and carnivory
Flowers and fruit
Roots
Reproduction
Distribution
Habitat
Conservation status
Gallery of prey
Uses
Traditional medicine
As ornamental plants
Nano-biotechnology
Chemical constituents
References
Further reading
External links

Charles Darwin performed much of the early research into Drosera, engaging in a long series of experiments with Drosera rotundifolia, which were the first to confirm carnivory in plants. In an 1860 letter, Darwin wrote, "...at the present moment, I care more about Drosera than the origin of all the species in the world".