Sticky Fun

Drosera capensis (Sundew). Those sticky drops attract insects that are captured and digested by the sundew to obtain much needed Nitrogen to supplement the nitrogen-poor peat that they live in. This particular sundew is native to the Cape in South Africa.

Sticky Fingers or Nature's Natural Bug Trap

Drosera rotundifolia, Sundew, Cedar Bay, Alaska and a small spider both out hunting for prey. Sundews have a sticky, sweet nectar on their hair-like stalked mucilaginous glands that cover their leaf surface. The "nectar" attracts small bugs which quickly get enmeshed by the closing stalks where they are digested for their nitrogen. The bugs supplement the sparse nitrogen available in the acidic bog environments that these plants favor. These nifty little plants will propagate from leaf cuttings, given the proper environment, sprouting a new plant from the leaf section as might an african violet.

Drosera Capensis

Well, I'm all fired out. Enough gloom and stats for a lifetime. Here's a picture of Drosera capensis, a carnivorous sundew plant. They are really quite pretty, with their little deadly drops of red dew sparkling in the sun. The little gnats they catch probably think about the same, at least until they get stuck.