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Sundew family
Droseraceae Salisb.
モウセンゴケ科
A small family of carnivorous plants with about 200 species worldwide. They capture insects using sticky glandular hairs and trapping leaves, adapted to nitrogen-poor wetland environments. In Japan, Drosera rotundifolia, D. spathulata, and D. anglica are native.
Key Characteristics
- ●Capture and digest insects using glandular hairs (trichomes secreting mucilage)
- ●Leaves are alternate or basal, often rounded in shape
- ●Flowers are pentamerous, white to pale pink, in racemose or cymose inflorescences
- ●Fruit is a capsule containing numerous small seeds
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate / Whorled
Leaf type
Simple / Compound
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Entire
Growth form
Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Stipules
Present / Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
Many
Petal fusion
Free
Ovary position
Superior
Stamen count
3-4 / 5
Plant sex
Hermaphrodite
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core Eudicots > Caryophyllales > Droseraceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous (ca. 90 million years ago)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Acquisition of carnivory (insect capture via sticky glandular hairs)
- ・Adaptation to nutrient-poor wetland environments
- ・Specialization of Venus flytrap (Dionaea) with snap-trap mechanism
Plants in Sundew family on this site
AI-generated, needs verification