Carnivorous Sundew

All three photos posted this morning are from my archives. Our forecast is for snow today, so I thought I would post photos with colour.

I couldn't believe the sights seen when looking at a carnivorous Sundew plant through a macro lens! The complete plant is only very small and each leaf is tiny. This is just the tip of one of those leaves, seen with a few of the red stalked mucilaginous glands (like little round, red glass beads) with which the plant lures and digests insects. Isn't nature amazing?

I could spend hours macro photographing this tiny plant! Unfortunately, I've only seen it when we've been on private land at Elkton Bog, north west of the city, near Cremona. We've only been lucky enough to botanize the bog area three or four times. It's definitely a very wet experience, as parts of you sink partly under water, lol! This photo was taken on 30 July 2010.

"The carnivorous sundew plant, botanical name Drosera, has about 130 species. All of the species of the sundew plant are beautiful and many look like fireworks, but they are deadly to the insects that fly near to them. One thing that all carnivorous sundew plants do have is the gel-like substance at the tips of the tentacles that cover the leaves. This gel is a sticky substance that the insects that fly too near the plant get stuck on. The plant can then eat it. The many species of the sundew plant can be found all around the world, on every single continent. This is unusual for a plant because most carnivorous plants are found only in one or two regions of the world because of the different climates that they must live in. The plant is called sundew because of the gel like substance on the tentacles. The gel makes the plants look as if they have morning dew on them all day long, especially when it glistens in the sun." From www.carnivorous--plants.com/sundew-plant.html