Family sundew
genus Drosera
Family. Rosyanka - Droseraceae
Perhaps, it is representatives of this genus that can be recommended to a novice lover of insectivorous plants.
Rosyanka are cosmopolitans, that is, they can be found in most regions of the globe, including in Russia, but most species are found in Australia and New Zealand. In general, these are perennial herbaceous plants.
Amazing variety of life forms of sundew - erect or curly shoots, rosettes of leaves. . Some species grow throughout the year, others - with fleshy or tuberous roots - have a pronounced rest period.
In a completely separate group isolated miniature sundew - Pygmy Drosera, prevalent mainly in Australia. This, for example, such species as the sundew of the east - Drosera occidentalis 0.5-1 cm in diameter and Ericson's sundew - Drosera ericsoniae - reaching 3-4 cm in diameter, is a real giant among the pygmies. Under natural conditions, they grow almost on clean sand, sometimes with a small admixture of clay.
The shape of the leaves is very diverse, they are elongated, for example in Drosera capensis and Drosera cistifera, rounded with an enlarged tip - in Drosera lanata. The color is usually green or with a slight pink tinge and red glands. The length of the leaves varies from 1 to 6 cm.
Saplings have a very simple mechanism for trapping insects. On the surface of the leaf blade there are a lot of glands that secrete adhesive liquid and digestive enzymes. Clinging to one hair, the insect begins to make random movements, trying to escape, and involuntarily touches other hairs, all the more firmly and firmly "sticking" to the sheet. In addition, the neighboring hairs tend to lean and envelop the prey, highlighting special substances that paralyze the victim. The edge of the sheet is wrapped and closes the insect.
Courtship. Rosemary needs diffuse light. As a substrate, a mixture of top peat with vermiculite is recommended. Humidity is maintained at 60-80%.The container with a plant for the period from May to September is placed in water so that its level rises not less than 1/4 of the height of the container. The rest of the time the substrate is kept moist. In no case do not spray the plant.
Sprouts have long enough roots and for them it is necessary to select high capacities. Effectively look a few plants planted together.
Propagate sundew leaves with cuttings, daughter siblings and seeds, which are sown in the spring at a temperature of 15 ° C.Very interesting are the structures of reproduction in the group Pygmy - in the center of the rosette there appear small oval-ovoid corpuscles of green color. They are called gems. In natural conditions - this is the main method of asexual reproduction of miniature sundewers.