Drosera lanata is a carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...

 in the genus Drosera and is endemic to the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

 and 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...

 in 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...

. Its leaves are arranged in a compact basal rosette

Rosette (botany)

In botany, a rosette is a circular arrangement of leaves, with all the leaves at a single height.Though rosettes usually sit near the soil, their structure is an example of a modified stem.-Function:...

. Narrow linear petioles

Petiole (botany)

In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...

 less than 2 mm wide emerge from the center of the rosette and hold carnivorous leaves at the end. Both petioles and the center of the rosette are densely covered in silvery dendritic hairs. These dendritic hairs afford the plant insulation and allow it to trap morning dew for additional moisture during the dry season. The leaf lamina

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 is maroon-red and 2 mm long by 2.5 mm wide.

Drosera lanata was first formally described by Katsuhiko Kondo in 1984 when he authored three new species of the D. petiolaris

Drosera petiolaris

Drosera petiolaris is a carnivorous plant in the genus Drosera and is the eponymous species of the petiolaris species complex, which mostly refers to the entire subgenus Lasiocephala...

complex. The type specimen

Biological type

In biology, a type is one particular specimen of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached...

 was collected near Mareeba

Mareeba, Queensland

Mareeba is a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. The town is above sea level on the confluence of the Barron River, Granite Creek and Emerald Creek. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning meeting of the waters...

 on the Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...

 on 28 March 1982.

See also

• List of Drosera species
• Taxonomy of Drosera