Drosera binata
Encyclopedia
Drosera binata, commonly known as the Fork-leaved sundew, is a large, perennial sundew
native
to Australia
and New Zealand
. The specific epithet is Latin
for "having pairs" - a reference to the leaves, which are dichotomously divided or forked. This species occurs naturally in Australia, primarily in coastal areas from Fraser Island in Queensland
, south down through New South Wales
and Victoria
to Tasmania
and the south-east corner of South Australia
. The range of this species extends to New Zealand where it is common below 1000 metres, being found in both the North
and South
Islands, Stewart Island/Rakiura
and farther afield on the Chathams
. D. binata is unique among sundews in having narrow, branching leaves. Some populations go dormant in the winter, while others are truly tropical.
It is the only species in the Drosera subgenus
Phycopsis.
, commonly referred to as the "T-form", were first collected in 1792 by the French exploration of Australia's southern coast led by Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
. The naturalist on board that expedition, Jacques Labillardière
, first described D. binata in his 1804 publication on the flora of Australia, Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen
. The T-form, so named for its single leaf bifurcation spreading into a T-shape, is a robust plant from temperate zones that can grow up to 30 cm (12 in) and has green foliage that becomes redder with age. This form has been described as being genetically stable.
The second observed form, commonly referred to as var. dichotoma, is similar to the T-form, but the foliage is yellower and the leaf typically divides into four terminal leaf points, though it has been known to produce as many as eight leaf points. It was first validly described in an 1819 volume of Rees's Cyclopædia by James Edward Smith
as D. dichotoma, based on the description by Joseph Banks
and Daniel Solander
. This name, however, has since been reduced to synonymy
with D. binata. This morphological form was first published as "var. dichotoma" by J. A. Mazrimas in a 1976 volume of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
, but the publication of that name was invalid under the rules of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Even though the name is not valid, it is still widely used in cultivation to refer to this D. binata form. This was one of many plants used by Charles Darwin
in his investigation of carnivorous plants for his 1875 book Insectivorous Plants
.
A third described form, often called D. binata f.
multifida, has even more leaf divisions, bifurcating several times to produce anywhere from eight to 16 or even 30 terminal leaf points. This, too, was published by J. A. Mazrimas in the same 1976 volume of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter as var. multifida, referring to the description of a 27-point D. binata found by George Ashley and published in a 1975 volume of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter. Neither of these names were validly published, but again they remain in use among carnivorous plant growers. A final form, known for producing up to 40 terminal leaf points, is frequently titled f. extrema, another name that has never been validly published but remains in use.
Two cultivar
s of D. binata have been named. Drosera 'Giant' is a particularly large form of the "var. dichotoma" type and was published by Peter D'Amato
in 1998 and registered in 1999. The other, Drosera 'Marston Dragon', was published by Adrian Slack
in 1986 and registered in 2001.
Sundew
Drosera, commonly known as the sundews, comprise one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surface. The insects are used to supplement...
native
Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...
to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The specific epithet is Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "having pairs" - a reference to the leaves, which are dichotomously divided or forked. This species occurs naturally in Australia, primarily in coastal areas from Fraser Island in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, south down through New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
to Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and the south-east corner of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. The range of this species extends to New Zealand where it is common below 1000 metres, being found in both the North
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
and South
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
Islands, Stewart Island/Rakiura
Stewart Island/Rakiura
Stewart Island/Rakiura is the third-largest island of New Zealand. It lies south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. Its permanent population is slightly over 400 people, most of whom live in the settlement of Oban.- History and naming :...
and farther afield on the Chathams
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...
. D. binata is unique among sundews in having narrow, branching leaves. Some populations go dormant in the winter, while others are truly tropical.
It is the only species in the Drosera subgenus
Subgenus
In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.In zoology, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the Tiger Cowry of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, which...
Phycopsis.
Taxonomy and botanical history
Plants similar to the type specimenBiological type
In biology, a type is one particular specimen of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached...
, commonly referred to as the "T-form", were first collected in 1792 by the French exploration of Australia's southern coast led by Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was a French navigator who explored the Australian coast in 1792 while seeking traces of the lost expedition of La Pérouse....
. The naturalist on board that expedition, Jacques Labillardière
Jacques Labillardière
Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière was a French naturalist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the La Pérouse expedition...
, first described D. binata in his 1804 publication on the flora of Australia, Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen
Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen
Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen is a two volume work describing the flora of Australia. The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillardière, who visited the region in 1792 with the d'Entrecasteaux expedition...
. The T-form, so named for its single leaf bifurcation spreading into a T-shape, is a robust plant from temperate zones that can grow up to 30 cm (12 in) and has green foliage that becomes redder with age. This form has been described as being genetically stable.
The second observed form, commonly referred to as var. dichotoma, is similar to the T-form, but the foliage is yellower and the leaf typically divides into four terminal leaf points, though it has been known to produce as many as eight leaf points. It was first validly described in an 1819 volume of Rees's Cyclopædia by James Edward Smith
James Edward Smith
Sir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious interest in the natural world...
as D. dichotoma, based on the description by Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
and Daniel Solander
Daniel Solander
Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university educated scientist to set foot on Australian soil.-Biography:...
. This name, however, has since been reduced to synonymy
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
with D. binata. This morphological form was first published as "var. dichotoma" by J. A. Mazrimas in a 1976 volume of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
The Carnivorous Plant Newsletter is the official publication of the International Carnivorous Plant Society , the largest such organization in the world.-History and editorship:...
, but the publication of that name was invalid under the rules of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Even though the name is not valid, it is still widely used in cultivation to refer to this D. binata form. This was one of many plants used by Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
in his investigation of carnivorous plants for his 1875 book Insectivorous Plants
Insectivorous Plants (book)
Insectivorous Plants is a book by British naturalist and evolutionary theory pioneer Charles Darwin, first published on 2 July 1875 in London....
.
A third described form, often called D. binata f.
Form (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, a form is one of the "secondary" taxonomic ranks, below that of variety, which in turn is below that of species; it is an infraspecific taxon...
multifida, has even more leaf divisions, bifurcating several times to produce anywhere from eight to 16 or even 30 terminal leaf points. This, too, was published by J. A. Mazrimas in the same 1976 volume of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter as var. multifida, referring to the description of a 27-point D. binata found by George Ashley and published in a 1975 volume of the Carnivorous Plant Newsletter. Neither of these names were validly published, but again they remain in use among carnivorous plant growers. A final form, known for producing up to 40 terminal leaf points, is frequently titled f. extrema, another name that has never been validly published but remains in use.
Two cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s of D. binata have been named. Drosera 'Giant' is a particularly large form of the "var. dichotoma" type and was published by Peter D'Amato
Peter D'Amato
Peter D'Amato is an American author, businessman, and carnivorous plant authority. He is the owner of California Carnivores, the largest nursery of carnivorous plants in the world, and the author of The Savage Garden , a book on the cultivation of insectivorous plants...
in 1998 and registered in 1999. The other, Drosera 'Marston Dragon', was published by Adrian Slack
Adrian Slack
Adrian Slack is an author and authority on carnivorous plants. He is the author of two books: Carnivorous Plants and Insect-Eating Plants and How to Grow Them ....
in 1986 and registered in 2001.
See also
- List of Drosera species
- Taxonomy of Drosera