Drosera peltata at Caloundra, Queensland

Some more Drosera in the wild. Drosera peltata again, but this time from Caloundra on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. These photos were taken in mid-summer (early January 2011 to be precise), showing that not all tuberous Drosera in Australia are winter specialists. These plants are also quite large, scrambling to over 20 cm in some instances. The habitat here was Leptospermum and Eucalyptus dominated woodland adjacent to a clearing. Wallum (sandy low heath) was not far away, with both Drosera burmannii and D. spathulata growing there.

In this Queensland form of D. peltata, the sepals are atypical in being glabrous (ie. non hairy). However, they can still be distinguished from D. auriculata because the apex of the sepals are acute (ie. pointy; they are obtuse in D. auriculata). The Flora of Australia (Volume 8) provides a comprehensive list of characters separating these two species.