The otherwise leathal (to insects) sundew has a different need every now and then – pollination and propagation! What to do? As it is unable to turn off its traps, it simply produces a tall stem with tantalizing flowers….
Unfortunatley I don’t find this particularly convincing, as the flower for some reason is always pointing down to the sticky traps.. I guess quite a few of the pollinators are trapped either on their way to the flowers or after pollination. It seems the sundew on Roraima has its cake and eats it too!
The native range is the Guyana Shield.
This is the natural position of the flowers. Perhaps the pollinators first land on the petals and then crawls around to reach the nectar and pollen and don’t fly directly to it? Perhaps the delicate flower is unable to cope with the constant rain, and thus is facing down?
Last updated on 3 April 2023
