A genus of plants commonly known as “sundews”

Drosera are short-lived, herbaceous, perennial wildflowers found in sunny bogs. They compensate for their low nutrient habitat by catching insects with sticky glandular hairs that rim the leaves. The leaf then folds, encapsulating and digesting the prey. In our area, sundews bloom from July to September. The five-petaled flowers range from white to pink or purple. Individuals open one per day, with those at the bottom of the inflorescence blooming first.

Drosera intermedia: spatulate leaf sundew

Three species of Drosera used to occur in NYC. One species, round-leaved sundew (D. rotundifolia), has been extirpated (i.e., has become locally extinct) from the city. (Ecological shorthand for extirpated status is ‘x’. Get it?) The other two species, thread-leaved sundew (D. filiformis) and narrow-leaved sundew (D. intermedia) ata right, are still here, holding on by a tenuous thread. They are threatened by the degradation and loss of their wetland habitats and also by shade from trees and shrubs (succession). These species are the only representatives of the plant family Droseraceae in the city. All 3 species are considered vulnerable to extirpation in New York State. Drosera species serve as reminders of the precarious state of New York City’s native flora.