Sundews
What are they?
Sundews are small plants and could be easily overlooked if it were not for that fact that they often grow in great quantity, creating rich patches of red in green sphagnum bogs. These are carniverous plants, their leaves covered in soft spines, each tipped with an amazingly sticky blob. These blobs ensnare insects which are slowly dissolved and adsorbed by the plant to provide it with nutrients that it can't get from its impoverished habitat.
Where are they found?
Look for sundews in acid bogs dominated by sphagnum moss.
Identification
The species of sundew are easily told apart by the shape of the leaves.
Thread-leaved Sundew Drosera filiformis
A rare plant in Cape May County with an old record from the north of the region. Flowers June to July.
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Spoon-leaved Sundew Drosera intermedia
Common in suitable habitat throughout much of South Jersey and the Pine Barrens. Flowers June to August.
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Round-leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia
Uncommon in sphagnum bogs in Cape May County but easily overlooked among larger colonies of the far more common Spoon-leaved Sundew. Flowers and fruit of the sundew species are very similar, but the leaves are distinctive. Flowers June to August.
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