Plants of the Castlemaine District.

Tall Sundew - native (Drosera auriculata)

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Family: Droseraceae (Sundew family).

Tall Sundew is a common plant of the heathy dry forests, often growing in hard stony ground. The leaves have sticky insect catching hairs. Insects caught on the leaves are digested by the sundew.

Identification

it is an erect plant with sticky, insect catching hairs
the basal leaf rosette is usually absent
the sepals (below the flowers) are without hairs

This sundew has previously been considered a subspecies of Pale Sundew (i.e. as Drosera peltata subspecies auriculata). The differences between Pale Sundew (D. peltata) and Tall Sundew (D. auriculata) are

	Pale Sundew	Tall Sundew
Basal rosette	Usually present	Usually absent
Habitat	Damp gullies, damp grassland	Dry or damp places
Height	Usually to 20cm high	Usually to 35cm high
Sepals	Usually hairy	Hairless

Photos 1: Dense patch of Tall Sundew. Smiths Reef. 2,3, 4: Kalimna.