Which sundew suits your space? Climate and dormancy for every Drosera species

Every sundew wants the same soil and the same water: something acid and starved, kept wet with rain, distilled or reverse-osmosis water. What they do not share is a climate. A sundew from a Canadian bog spends half the year frozen under a resting bud. One from the sand plains of Western Australia spends the summer as a dry tuber and only appears when the autumn rains come. One from the monsoon country of northern Australia never sees a cold night and sulks below 18 °C (65 °F). The Cape sundew, the plant most people start with, does none of these things, and that is exactly why it is the plant most people start with.

So when you find a sundew you like, the question is not “is it easy?” but “does its year fit the space I can give it?” This article answers that for every species. First come the growing spaces most of us actually have and what each one can offer a plant. Then an index of every accepted species sorted into five climate types, with each name linking to its own entry. Then the five types in turn: what the plants do in the wild, the temperatures and the rest they need, and a table of every species in the type with its native range, wild rhythm and the spaces it suits.

What decides whether a sundew will live with you

Four things, in this order.

Whether it needs a rest, and what kind. About a third of the genus grows all year. The rest take one of two kinds of rest: a cold winter rest, usually as a tight bud called a hibernaculum, or a dry summer rest as a tuber, a thick root or a hairy bud. A plant that needs a rest and does not get one declines over one to three years. A plant that is given a rest it does not need, such as a Cape sundew left to freeze, simply dies faster.

The temperature it grows in. The subtropical rosettes are happy anywhere between about 10 and 35 °C (50 and 95 °F). Tuberous sundews die back when days pass about 25 °C (77 °F) in their growing season. The woolly sundews of northern Australia want the low 30s °C (high 80s °F) in summer. Highland plants from Brazil, the Venezuelan tepuis and the Queensland rainforest want cool nights and nothing much above 25 °C (77 °F). The same windowsill cannot do all of these.

How much light it gets. Nearly every sundew wants more light than a windowsill gives, and pygmy and tuberous sundews want full sun or a strong lamp. Only the three Queensland rainforest species are grown out of direct sun.

Whether it is an annual. A dozen or so species live for one wet season, flower, seed and die, whatever you do. They are easy, but only from seed, every year.

The native range is the clue to all four. The table below gives it for every species, and the groups explain what it means.

The spaces most growers have

Match the space before you match the plant. These are the eight situations used in the species table; a species often suits more than one.

Space	What it offers	Who it suits
Cold bog	Outdoors all year with real winters: hard frost, soil that freezes, USDA zones 5 to 7 (lows of −29 to −12 °C, −20 to 10 °F), RHS H5 to H6 and colder.	Cold temperate sundews with hibernacula, and nothing else.
Mild bog	Outdoors all year with light frost only, USDA zones 8 to 9 (lows of −12 to −1 °C, 10 to 30 °F), typical of the Pacific coast, the British Isles with some shelter, the southern United States and coastal Australia.	Cold and warm temperate sundews, the fork-leaved sundew, D. regia, the hardier tuberous and pygmy species with a dry summer.
Frost-free outdoors	A Mediterranean, subtropical or tropical climate, USDA zone 10 and warmer, with the pots never freezing.	Subtropical rosettes, pygmy and tuberous sundews (winter-rainfall climates especially), South African winter growers; woolly sundews in the tropics.
Cold greenhouse	An unheated greenhouse, cold frame, porch or garage window: frost-free or nearly so, cold in winter, cool in spring and autumn, warm in summer.	Temperate species that need a winter chill without a deep freeze, tuberous sundews, pygmies, the winter-growing South Africans, D. regia, D. binata.
Windowsill	Room temperature all year, roughly 15 to 25 °C (59 to 77 °F), with a few hours of direct sun.	Subtropical rosettes, the Cape sundew, the easy annuals; not enough light for most others.
Lights	An indoor shelf or terrarium under grow lights at room temperature, humid, with a timer.	Subtropical rosettes, the Queensland species, pygmies (on a natural day length), the annuals, the non-dormant tropical forms of temperate species.
Warm terrarium	Lights plus heat, 25 to 32 °C (77 to 90 °F), never below 18 °C (65 °F).	Woolly sundews and the tropical annuals.
Cool greenhouse	Days under about 25 °C (77 °F), nights of 10 to 16 °C (50 to 60 °F), humid; a shaded greenhouse in a cool climate, a cool basement under lights, or a wine-cooler terrarium.	Brazilian and tepui highland species, D. schizandra, D. arcturi, cool forms of D. spatulata.

A quick way to read the table: a kitchen windowsill grows the subtropical group and little else; an outdoor bog in a frost climate grows the cold temperate group and little else; a cold greenhouse or frost-free garden grows almost everything with a dry summer rest; a warm terrarium grows the tropical annuals and woolly sundews; a cool greenhouse grows the highland plants.

Every species by climate type

Five climate types cover the genus. Each name below links to the species’ own entry further down, where its native range, wild rhythm and suitable spaces are given; the type name links to the section that explains the group. Within a type the entries are sorted by group (tuberous, pygmy, woolly and so on) and then by name.

Temperate, 14 species. A cold or mild winter rest. Grow in a cold bog, a mild bog or a cold greenhouse. D. anglica, D. arcturi, D. binata, D. brevifolia, D. capillaris, D. filiformis, D. intermedia, D. linearis, D. murfetii, D. regia, D. rotundifolia, D. stenopetala, D. tracyi, D. uniflora

Subtropical, 18 species. No rest, room temperature. Grow on a windowsill, under lights or frost-free outdoors. D. admirabilis, D. aliciae, D. capensis, D. collinsiae, D. curvipes, D. dielsiana, D. glabripes, D. hamiltonii, D. natalensis, D. neocaledonica, D. nidiformis, D. oblanceolata, D. rubrifolia, D. slackii, D. spatulata, D. tokaiensis, D. ultramafica, D. venusta

Tropical lowland, 51 species. Warm all year. Grow in a warm terrarium or under lights in a warm room. D. adelae, D. affinis, D. amazonica, D. aquatica, D. arachnoides, D. aurantiaca, D. banksii, D. barrettiorum, D. bequaertii, D. biflora, D. brevicornis, D. broomensis, D. burkeana, D. burmannii, D. buubugujin, D. caduca, D. cayennensis, D. colombiana, D. communis, D. cucullata, D. darwinensis, D. derbyensis, D. dilatatopetiolaris, D. elongata, D. falconeri, D. finlaysoniana, D. flexicaulis, D. fragrans, D. fulva, D. glabriscapa, D. hartmeyerorum, D. hirtella, D. indica, D. katangensis, D. kenneallyi, D. lanata, D. lutescens, D. maanyaa-gooljoo, D. madagascariensis, D. margaritacea, D. nana, D. ordensis, D. panamensis, D. paradoxa, D. petiolaris, D. prolifera, D. schizandra, D. serpens, D. sessilifolia, D. stipularis, D. subtilis

Tropical highland, 33 species. Cool nights and no cold. Grow in a cool greenhouse or under lights in a cool room. D. arenicola, D. ascendens, D. camporupestris, D. cendeensis, D. chimaera, D. chrysolepis, D. condor, D. esmeraldae, D. felix, D. graminifolia, D. grantsaui, D. graomogolensis, D. hirticalyx, D. humbertii, D. kaieteurensis, D. latifolia, D. magnifica, D. meristocaulis, D. montana, D. peruensis, D. pilosa, D. quartzicola, D. riparia, D. roraimae, D. schwackei, D. solaris, D. spiralis, D. spirocalyx, D. tentaculata, D. tomentosa, D. villosa, D. viridis, D. yutajensis

Winter growers, 146 species. Winter growth and a summer rest. Grow in a cold greenhouse or frost-free outdoors in a winter-rainfall climate. D. aberrans, D. acaulis, D. afra, D. alba, D. albonotata, D. allantostigma, D. andersoniana, D. androsacea, D. atrata, D. atrostyla, D. auriculata, D. australis, D. barbigera, D. basifolia, D. bicolor, D. bindoon, D. browniana, D. bulbigena, D. bulbosa, D. callistos, D. calycina, D. cistiflora, D. citrina, D. closterostigma, D. coccipetala, D. collina, D. coomallo, D. cuneifolia, D. depauperata, D. dichrosepala, D. drummondii, D. echinoblastus, D. eneabba, D. enodes, D. eremaea, D. ericgreenii, D. erythrogyne, D. erythrorhiza, D. esperensis, D. esterhuyseniae, D. fimbriata, D. geniculata, D. gibsonii, D. gigantea, D. glanduligera, D. gracilis, D. graniticola, D. grievei, D. gunniana, D. helodes, D. heterophylla, D. hilaris, D. hirsuta, D. hookeri, D. hortiorum, D. huegelii, D. humilis, D. hyperostigma, D. indumenta, D. intricata, D. koikyennuruff, D. lasiantha, D. leioblastus, D. leucoblasta, D. leucostigma, D. lowriei, D. lunata, D. macrantha, D. macropetala, D. macrophylla, D. magna, D. major, D. mannii, D. marchantii, D. menziesii, D. meristocaulis, D. micra, D. micrantha, D. microphylla, D. microscapa, D. miniata, D. minutiflora, D. modesta, D. monantha, D. monticola, D. moorei, D. myriantha, D. neesii, D. nitidula, D. nivea, D. occidentalis, D. omissa, D. orbiculata, D. oreopodion, D. paleacea, D. pallida, D. patens, D. pauciflora, D. pedicellaris, D. peltata, D. planchonii, D. platypoda, D. platystigma, D. porrecta, D. praefolia, D. prophylla, D. prostrata, D. prostratoscaposa, D. pulchella, D. purpurascens, D. pycnoblasta, D. pygmaea, D. radicans, D. ramellosa, D. ramentacea, D. rechingeri, D. reflexa, D. roseana, D. rosulata, D. rubricalyx, D. rupicola, D. salina, D. sargentii, D. schmutzii, D. scorpioides, D. sewelliae, D. silvicola, D. spilos, D. squamosa, D. stelliflora, D. stolonifera, D. stricticaulis, D. subhirtella, D. sulphurea, D. thysanosepala, D. trichocaulis, D. trinervia, D. tubaestylis, D. verrucata, D. walyunga, D. whittakeri, D. xerophila, D. yilgarnensis, D. zeyheri, D. zigzagia, D. zonaria

Temperate sundews: a winter rest

Fourteen species from places with a real winter: the bogs of the northern hemisphere, the south-eastern United States, eastern Australia and New Zealand, the Cape mountains and the alpine and Magellanic south. All of them stop for the cold months, most as a hibernaculum, and all of them are outdoor or cold-greenhouse plants rather than houseplants.

Cold temperate sundews: a hibernaculum and a real winter

D. rotundifolia, D. anglica, D. intermedia, D. linearis, D. filiformis and D. tracyi, the sundews of the northern bogs. In autumn they stop, drop their roots and leaves, and sit out the winter as a hibernaculum, a tight bud of scales at soil level. The bud must spend the winter cold and barely damp; a plant denied its winter on a windowsill grows weaker each year and dies within two or three.

• Dormancy length: about six months for D. rotundifolia and D. anglica, nine for D. linearis and the northern forms of D. intermedia. Southern populations rest for less time; provenance matters, and a plant from Wisconsin and one from Louisiana are not interchangeable.
• Temperature: cool summers suit them; pots are kept standing in water and can be flooded in hot weather. Outdoors in USDA zone 9 and colder for D. rotundifolia and D. anglica; D. linearis is difficult where winters are milder than zone 7. D. filiformis from the Atlantic coast lives in zones 6 and 7 and needs a definite winter; its Florida form and D. tracyi are zone 9 plants that are hurt by early and late freezes.
• Rest in a mild climate: lift the hibernaculum after die-back and keep it in the refrigerator in a sealed bag with a little damp sphagnum, or keep the pot in an unheated porch or cold frame.
• Exceptions that skip the rest: the Hawaiian D. anglica, the Cuban and Mount Roraima forms of D. intermedia and, under lights, the Florida D. filiformis grow without a hibernaculum and suit a terrarium.
• Spaces: cold bog, mild bog, cold greenhouse. Not a windowsill plant.

Warm temperate sundews: a mild winter, no hibernaculum

D. capillaris and D. brevifolia of the south-eastern United States, which also reach southern Brazil. Their habitats have a definite but mild winter. They tolerate frost but not long freezes, and instead of forming a hibernaculum they pass through cycles of growth and semi-dormancy. D. brevifolia tends to behave as a biennial, flowering itself to death; removing flower stalks prolongs both.

• Temperature: outdoors all year in USDA zone 9 and warmer; in colder zones outdoors in the warm months and in a cold frame, garage window or cold greenhouse for winter.
• Rest: semi-dormancy in winter cold or in a heated terrarium; no bud is formed and nothing special is done.
• Spaces: mild bog, frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights.

The fork-leaved sundew: a winter rest in every form

D. binata from the sandy marshes of eastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand is a warm temperate plant that is often grown as a subtropical. Every form goes dormant at some point, dying back to ground level, more reliably under natural light than under lamps; a plant that looks dead in winter usually has a live growth bud at the base.

• Temperature: Tasmanian and New Zealand forms stay outdoors in USDA zone 9; the highland New Zealand form survives zone 7 winters if protected from freeze-drying; where the soil freezes, move pots to a garage or cold porch for winter. The multi-forked forms from north of Sydney are the least cold-tolerant.
• Spaces: mild bog, frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights for the smaller cool-climate forms; a sunny humid windowsill for the smaller forms.

The king sundew: a Cape mountain seep

D. regia grows in a dozen hillside seeps in the Bainskloof mountains at 500 to 900 m (1,600 to 3,000 ft), in full sun with water moving through peat and gravel around its roots. It forms a loose hibernaculum in winter, survives light frost and regrows from its thick roots if a freeze kills the crown.

• Temperature: mild days and cool nights; the roots are sensitive to heat. Outdoors all year in USDA zone 9; serious winter protection in zone 8 and colder, such as a garage window with a lamp for five or six months, or a heated greenhouse.
• Water: always wet but never stagnant; it is less tolerant of airless waterlogging than most sundews.
• Spaces: mild bog in zone 9, cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors, and a very sunny humid windowsill for a patient grower.

Alpine sundews: snow in winter, cool in summer

D. arcturi of the Australian Alps, Tasmania and New Zealand, its Tasmanian relative D. murfetii, the New Zealand D. stenopetala and the Magellanic D. uniflora of Patagonia and the Falklands spend months under snow as a horn-shaped hibernaculum of leaf bases and grow in a short cool summer; Mount Baw Baw summers average about 5 to 15 °C (41 to 59 °F). They are uncommon in cultivation because they need both halves of that year: a real winter and a summer without heat. A cold bog in a cool-summer climate is the only space that offers it.

Temperate species

Species	Group	Native range	Wild rhythm	Grow it in	Notes
D. arcturi	Alpine	Alpine south-eastern Australia and Tasmania; New Zealand from the North Island to Stewart Island, descending to sea level in the far south	Winter under snow for months as a horn-shaped hibernaculum; grows and flowers from October to January	Cold bog in a cool-summer climate, cold greenhouse in a cool climate	Uncommon in cultivation and hard to keep: needs a real winter and a cool summer (Baw Baw summers average about 5 to 15 °C, 41 to 59 °F). Grown in sphagnum.
D. murfetii	Alpine	Tasmania: Hartz Mountains, Scotts Peak, Lake Plimsoll, about 1,000 m, among alpine cushion plants	Winter dormant as a ground-level bud; flowers November to January, sometimes in snow	Cold bog in a cool-summer climate, cold greenhouse in a cool climate	Separated from D. arcturi in 2014; the same needs, and even rarer in cultivation.
D. stenopetala	Alpine	New Zealand: Ruahine and Tararua ranges to Stewart Island, and the subantarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands	Winter dormant, regrowing from a rhizome; flowers December to February	Cold bog in a cool-summer climate, cold greenhouse	Peat bogs, tarns and wet rock faces; propagation rated difficult and plants are almost never offered.
D. uniflora	Alpine	Southern Chile and Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Falkland Islands; 500 to 2,000 m in Chile	Winter dormant	Cold bog, cold greenhouse	Magellanic bogs among cushion plants and sphagnum. Almost never grown; expect to give it a cold wet winter near freezing and a summer under about 24 °C (75 °F).
D. anglica	Cold temperate	Circumboreal, with an outlying population on Kauai, Hawaii	Hibernaculum about six months	Cold bog, mild bog, cold greenhouse; lights for the Hawaiian form	Outdoors in USDA zone 9 and colder. The Hawaiian form never rests and grows and flowers in a terrarium.
D. filiformis	Cold temperate	Atlantic coast of North America (var. filiformis); Florida panhandle (var. floridana)	Hibernaculum through winter	Cold bog, mild bog, cold greenhouse; lights for the Florida form	The Atlantic form needs a definite winter and lives outdoors in USDA zones 6 and 7. The Florida form is a zone 9 plant that may skip its rest under lights; selected clones survive zone 7.
D. intermedia	Cold temperate	Eastern North America, Europe, and south through the Caribbean to northern South America	Northern forms rest up to nine months; southern forms far less; Cuban and Mount Roraima forms do not rest	Cold bog, mild bog, cold greenhouse; lights for the tropical forms	Choose provenance to match your winter. The Mount Roraima form never forms a hibernaculum, even in freezing weather, and is the easiest form indoors; the Cuban form behaves like an annual.
D. linearis	Cold temperate	North America, Great Lakes region to Canada	Hibernaculum about nine months	Cold bog only	The hardest of the genus to grow. Difficult where winters are milder than USDA zone 7; rests at the wrong times in mild climates. Grows in calcareous fens but does better in peat in pots.
D. rotundifolia	Cold temperate	Circumboreal: North America, Europe and northern Asia to Japan	Hibernaculum about six months; growth from late spring	Cold bog, mild bog, cold greenhouse	Outdoors in USDA zone 9 and colder. Dislikes hot summers; Californian, southern European and Japanese provenances take warmth better than northern ones. Fails on a warm windowsill.
D. tracyi	Cold temperate	Gulf coast of the United States	Hibernaculum through a mild winter	Mild bog, cold greenhouse	A USDA zone 9 plant, hurt by early and late freezes and prone to rot if the soil surface stays wet in winter. Its hybrids with D. filiformis are hardier and easier.
D. binata	Fork-leaved sundew	Eastern Australia from Fraser Island to Tasmania and South Australia; New Zealand to the Chatham Islands	Every form dies back to a growth bud at the base at some point; the New Zealand highland form rests longest	Mild bog, frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights, sunny humid windowsill for the small forms	Tasmanian and New Zealand forms outdoors in USDA zone 9; the Waihohonu highland form survives zone 7 winters with protection from freeze-drying; the RHS rates subsp. dichotoma H3. The many-forked forms from north of Sydney are the tender ones. Seed germinates at 20 to 25 °C (68 to 77 °F).
D. regia	King sundew	South Africa: Bainskloof mountains, 500 to 900 m, in hillside seeps of wet peat and gravel	Loose hibernaculum in winter; leaves shrink and the crown can die back to the thick roots	Mild bog (zone 9), cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors, very sunny humid windowsill	The king sundew. Outdoors all year in USDA zone 9; serious protection in zone 8 and colder. Hibernacula take light frost; heat-sensitive roots want cool nights and flowing, never stagnant, water. Full sun outdoors gives leaves to 45 cm (18 in).
D. brevifolia	Warm temperate	South-eastern United States; also southern Brazil	Semi-dormant in winter; often a biennial	Mild bog, frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	The smallest American sundew. Grows a season or two, then flowers itself to death; keep seed. Zone 9 and warmer outdoors.
D. capillaris	Warm temperate	South-eastern United States; also southern coastal Brazil	Semi-dormant in winter; no hibernaculum	Mild bog, frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Outdoors all year in USDA zone 9 and warmer; tolerates frost but not long freezes. Very variable: flat forms from Alabama, long-stalked forms from central Florida. Cut flower stalks to prolong the plant.

Subtropical sundews: no rest

Eighteen rosetted or short-stemmed species from southern Africa, Australasia, Asia and the Pacific, with the Cape sundew as the type: D. capensis, D. aliciae, D. spatulata, D. tokaiensis, D. venusta, D. slackii, D. nidiformis, D. natalensis, D. dielsiana, D. admirabilis and their relatives. Their homes have no hard frost and no drought long enough to matter, so they grow all year, slowing in winter. This is the group for a kitchen windowsill, though most do better under a lamp.

• Temperature: about 10 to 35 °C (50 to 95 °F). Many survive a brief frost by regrowing from the roots, but they should be kept frost-free. D. venusta, D. rubrifolia and the New Zealand forms of D. spatulata prefer the cool end; D. glabripes and D. hamiltonii come from cool-winter climates and like a winter that slows them.
• Rest: none. Growth slows in low winter light; that is not dormancy and needs no action.
• Light: more than a windowsill gives for most of them; green, dewless leaves mean too little light, not too little humidity.
• Spaces: windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse if kept above freezing.

Subtropical species

Species	Group	Native range	Wild rhythm	Grow it in	Notes
D. admirabilis	Subtropical rosette	South Africa: Western Cape mountains, permanently wet seepages	Grows all year	Windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors	A miniature of D. aliciae, about 25 mm (1 in) across; happiest at 21 to 27 °C (70 to 80 °F).
D. aliciae	Subtropical rosette	South Africa: Western and Eastern Cape, 30 to 2,000 m, on stream banks and wet walls	Grows all year	Windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse kept frost-free	Long-lived, mound-forming and as easy as the Cape sundew; grown with the same water, mix and light.
D. capensis	Subtropical rosette	South Africa: Western and Eastern Cape, sea level to 1,800 m, in permanently wet seeps and ditches	Grows all year; dies back after a frost and regrows from the roots	Windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, mild bog with frost shelter	The Cape sundew. Thrives at 10 to 35 °C (50 to 95 °F); the RHS rates it H3 and says to grow it under glass where frost occurs. Regrows from the roots after brief freezes.
D. collinsiae	Subtropical rosette	South Africa (summer-rainfall provinces), Lesotho, Eswatini	Grows all year, with a short winter pause in cool conditions	Windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors	Erect spoon-shaped leaves; self-seeding.
D. curvipes	Subtropical rosette	South Africa (highveld and escarpment) and Eswatini, about 1,000 to 2,000 m, in bogs and sphagnum	Grows all year	Lights, windowsill, cool greenhouse	Summer-rainfall highland plant; plants sold as D. longiscapa are this species.
D. dielsiana	Subtropical rosette	Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi and eastern South Africa above 900 m, on wet peat over rock	Grows all year	Windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors	Small rosette about 3 cm (1.2 in) across; grown like D. aliciae.
D. glabripes	Subtropical rosette	South Africa: Western Cape coast, Cape Town to Witsand, on steep well-drained slopes	Grows all year on deep roots; may pause briefly in a hot dry summer	Cold greenhouse kept frost-free, frost-free outdoors, lights	Stem-forming; likes a cool winter that slows growth but no frost. Trailing woody stems topped by rosettes.
D. hamiltonii	Subtropical rosette	South-western Australia: peaty coastal swamps from Augusta to Albany	Perennial rosette; flowers in late spring after the cool wet winter	Cold greenhouse kept frost-free, frost-free outdoors, lights, windowsill	Grown like a subtropical rosette, but it comes from a cool wet-winter climate and flowers after a cool winter. Spreads by root shoots.
D. natalensis	Subtropical rosette	Eastern South Africa, Mozambique and Eswatini, in seeps, marshes and mountain bogs	Grows all year; dies back to the roots after frost	Windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors	Summer-rainfall plant; grown like D. aliciae.
D. neocaledonica	Subtropical rosette	New Caledonia, 50 to 1,280 m, on ultramafic soils in shrubland and marshes	Grows all year	Lights, windowsill	Rare in cultivation; grown like D. spatulata in a peat-based mix.
D. nidiformis	Subtropical rosette	Coastal Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique	Grows all year	Windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors	Does not tolerate cold and has no rest. Sometimes treated as a form of D. dielsiana.
D. oblanceolata	Subtropical rosette	Hong Kong, Macao, Guangdong, Guangxi, on exposed peaks above about 700 m	Grows all year	Lights, windowsill, cold greenhouse kept frost-free	Mountain plant that meets winter fog and temperatures in the low teens °C (mid 50s °F); its hybrid with D. spatulata is among the easiest sundews.
D. rubrifolia	Subtropical rosette	South Africa: Witzenberg and Hex River mountains near Ceres, on permanently wet rock seeps	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights	Cold high-altitude seeps; wants the cool end of the subtropical range.
D. slackii	Subtropical rosette	South Africa: Kleinrivier and Kogelberg mountains, on stream margins	Grows all year	Windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse kept frost-free	Evergreen; a deep pot, water all year and plenty of sun. Protect from frost.
D. spatulata	Subtropical rosette	Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, South-east Asia, southern China, Japan	Grows all year; no hibernaculum	Windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse kept frost-free	Enormously variable. The Hong Kong and Japanese plants and the common Australian forms are easy; the small Tasmanian, New Zealand alpine and Borneo (var. bakoensis) forms are short-lived or want it cool. The New Zealand Stewart Island plant prefers cool conditions.
D. tokaiensis	Subtropical rosette	Japan: Honshu, Tokai to Kinki	Grows all year; may slow or pause in cold	Windowsill, lights, frost-free outdoors	A natural hexaploid hybrid of D. spatulata and D. rotundifolia; easy, weedy and often mislabelled as one of its parents.
D. ultramafica	Subtropical rosette	Highlands of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, on ultramafic soils	Grows all year	Lights, cool greenhouse	Montane; its hybrid with D. spatulata is among the easiest sundews.
D. venusta	Subtropical rosette	South Africa: Western and Eastern Cape, on wet mountain streamsides and mossy walls	Grows all year	Lights, cool greenhouse, windowsill in a cool room	Grows best under cool conditions. Sometimes treated as a form of D. natalensis.

Tropical lowland sundews: warm all year

Fifty-one species from the monsoon north of Australia, the Queensland rainforest, tropical Africa and Madagascar, tropical Asia and the hot lowlands of South America. None of them sees a cold night in the wild; what varies is whether the year has a dry season, and whether the plant answers it by resting, dying back to a root, or dying and leaving seed. In cultivation they share a warm terrarium or a shelf under lights in a warm room.

Woolly sundews: heat all year, a drier winter

The sixteen species of the D. petiolaris complex, from monsoonal northern Australia, where summer brings very high rainfall and temperatures and winter is dry but still hot. In the dry season the rosettes shrink to a tight woolly bud of leaf bases and wait; D. falconeri and D. kenneallyi retreat below the soil.

• Temperature: the low 30s °C (mid 80s °F) in summer and nothing below 18 °C (65 °F) at any time. Seed germinates at 25 to 32 °C (77 to 90 °F). Growers in temperate climates stand the trays on seedling heat mats.
• Rest: not a true dormancy. Water levels are kept high in summer, and in winter the pots are allowed to dry for a few days between waterings. The hairiest species are the ones most adapted to the dry winter.
• Easiest: D. paradoxa, which tolerates lower temperatures, then D. petiolaris and the hybrids. D. banksii and D. subtilis are annuals.
• Spaces: warm terrarium; frost-free outdoors only in the tropics.

The Queensland rainforest sundews: shade, humidity, no rest

D. adelae, D. prolifera, D. schizandra and the recently described D. buubugujin grow on stream banks in the rainforests of north-eastern Queensland, the only sundews that live under a forest canopy. There is no cold season and no drought that reaches them, so they have no rest.

• Temperature: D. adelae does not need its homeland’s heat and tolerates ordinary room temperatures; D. prolifera likes warm and humid but does well at cool house temperatures; D. schizandra hates heat and declines above 25 °C (77 °F), and belongs with the highland plants in practice.
• Light and humidity: high humidity for all; no direct sun for D. schizandra, and a terrarium can be too bright and too warm for it. Fertiliser and dried food burn D. prolifera.
• Spaces: lights for D. adelae and D. prolifera; cool greenhouse or a jar in a north window for D. schizandra; a humid windowsill out of sun for D. adelae.

The tropical annuals: one wet season from seed

D. burmannii and D. sessilifolia, the thirteen species of the D. indica complex, and D. banksii and D. subtilis among the woolly sundews live for one season. Seed germinates when the rains come, the plant grows fast, flowers, sets seed and dies as the ground dries.

• Temperature: warm. D. indica seedlings do best at about 25 °C (77 °F); the Pilliga red form of D. burmannii suffers much below 16 °C (61 °F).
• Rest: none. Keep seed. D. burmannii and D. sessilifolia can be kept going for years by removing every flower stalk and feeding well; the D. indica group cannot be propagated from cuttings and is restarted from seed.
• Spaces: lights and warm terrarium; windowsill for D. burmannii in a warm room.

Tropical African and lowland American perennials

D. madagascariensis, D. burkeana and D. affinis from the summer-rainfall savannas of Africa, and D. amazonica, D. biflora, D. cayennensis, D. communis and D. hirtella from the lowlands and lower hills of South America, are grown warm all year and are easy in a humid terrarium. Those from savannas with a dry season (D. cayennensis, D. hirtella, some D. communis, and D. madagascariensis in a chilly winter) die back to the roots or the base and regrow; in a terrarium kept wet and warm they usually do not bother. D. madagascariensis wants very warm conditions and should be kept above about 15 °C (59 °F). The rest of the tropical African species are barely in cultivation.

Tropical lowland species

Species	Group	Native range	Wild rhythm	Grow it in	Notes
D. amazonica	Lowland American	Brazil: Amazon basin, white-sand clearings	Grows all year	Lights, warm terrarium	Lowland tropical; very easy in a terrarium and can be grown warmer than the highland species.
D. biflora	Lowland American	Venezuela, northern Brazil, Guyana border	Grows all year	Lights, warm terrarium	Lowland to intermediate tropical; very easy in a terrarium, self-pollinating.
D. cayennensis	Lowland American	Panama and northern South America lowlands	Dies back to a fleshy root in the dry season	Lights, warm terrarium	Can be grown wet all year in a terrarium; in a greenhouse kept only slightly moist after it dies back.
D. colombiana	Lowland American	Colombia	Not established	Not established	Treated by some as a synonym of D. cayennensis; essentially unknown in cultivation.
D. communis	Lowland American	Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela, northern Argentina; often above 700 m	Some forms take a short dry rest as a fleshy root	Lights (enclosed terrarium)	Likes high humidity and does well in an enclosed terrarium, not a greenhouse. Seed is short-lived; sow it on arrival.
D. hirtella	Lowland American	Central Brazil (Goiás, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Tocantins), possibly Bolivia	Short dry rest as a fleshy root	Lights (humid terrarium), cool greenhouse	Prefers higher air humidity than its relatives. Can be grown wet all year in a terrarium.
D. lutescens	Lowland American	Brazil and Bolivia	Short dry rest as a fleshy root	Lights (humid terrarium)	Often treated as a yellow-flowered variety of D. hirtella and grown the same way.
D. panamensis	Lowland American	Panama	Not established	Not established	Known from the 1976 description; not in cultivation.
D. adelae	Queensland rainforest	North-eastern Queensland: Rockingham Bay coast and Hinchinbrook Island, sea level to about 450 m	Grows all year	Lights, windowsill out of sun, cool greenhouse	The tolerant one: does not need its homeland’s heat and copes with ordinary room temperature. Wants high humidity and runs along the pot by root shoots.
D. buubugujin	Queensland rainforest	North-eastern Queensland rainforest	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights	Described in 2022; rarely in cultivation. Treat as D. schizandra until experience says otherwise.
D. prolifera	Queensland rainforest	North-eastern Queensland: Thornton Peak near Cape Tribulation, sea level to 1,300 m	Grows all year	Lights, cool greenhouse	Likes warm and humid but does well at cool house temperatures. High humidity. Burnt by fertiliser and dried food; feed live small flies only. Makes plantlets on the flower stalks.
D. schizandra	Queensland rainforest	North-eastern Queensland: Mount Bartle Frere, 400 to 700 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, a jar in a north window	Hates heat: declines above 25 °C (77 °F). No direct sun; most terrariums are too bright and too warm. Wet, humid and cool.
D. affinis	Tropical African	Angola, DR Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe	Perennial of summer-rainfall savanna marshes; seasonality not established	Lights, warm terrarium	Stem-forming, to about 23 cm (9 in).
D. arachnoides	Tropical African	Madagascar: eastern escarpment and central highlands, on waterfall cliffs	Not established	Lights, warm terrarium	The spider sundew, described in 2020; fewer than a thousand plants known. Barely in cultivation.
D. bequaertii	Tropical African	DR Congo, Zambia, Angola, about 1,200 m, in seasonally moist grassland	Not established	Lights, warm terrarium	Essentially unknown in cultivation.
D. burkeana	Tropical African	Tropical Africa to north-eastern South Africa and Madagascar, in marshes and vleis	Perennial rosette; no rest in cultivation	Lights, windowsill in a warm room, warm terrarium	Summer-rainfall plant grown warm all year.
D. elongata	Tropical African	Angola and neighbouring countries	Not established	Not established	Not in cultivation.
D. flexicaulis	Tropical African	Zambia, Angola, DR Congo	Not established	Not established	Not in cultivation.
D. katangensis	Tropical African	DR Congo: Haut-Katanga, grassy swamps	Perennial	Not established	Known from a single 1912 collection; critically endangered and not in cultivation.
D. madagascariensis	Tropical African	Tropical Africa from Guinea to Tanzania and south to Botswana; Madagascar; 900 to 2,300 m	Grows seasonally; stems die and new shoots rise from the base	Lights, warm terrarium, windowsill in a warm room	Prefers very warm temperatures and keeps growing in warmth; dies back in a chilly winter and regrows. Keep above about 15 °C (59 °F).
D. aquatica	Tropical annual	Northern Australia near Kununurra and Darwin	Wet-season annual, growing in or floating on water	Warm terrarium	Part of the D. indica complex; very rare in cultivation.
D. aurantiaca	Tropical annual	Kimberley, Western Australia	Wet-season annual	Warm terrarium	D. indica complex. Orange flowers.
D. barrettiorum	Tropical annual	Kimberley, Western Australia	Wet-season annual	Warm terrarium	D. indica complex.
D. burmannii	Tropical annual	Northern and eastern Australia, India, China, Japan, South-east Asia	Wet-season annual; lives for years if flower stalks are removed	Lights, warm terrarium, windowsill in a warm room	Pilliga red form suffers much below 16 °C (61 °F); the green Beerwah form is easier. Feed well and cut every flower stalk to keep it.
D. cucullata	Tropical annual	Kimberley, Western Australia	Wet-season annual	Warm terrarium	D. indica complex.
D. finlaysoniana	Tropical annual	Australia, Vietnam, Laos, Taiwan, China	Wet-season annual; a strict annual that dies after seeding	Lights, warm terrarium	Prefers drier soil and does poorly in soggy peat; sand works best. Most seed sold as D. indica is this species. Cannot be propagated from cuttings.
D. fragrans	Tropical annual	Broome to Darwin, northern Australia	Wet-season annual	Warm terrarium	D. indica complex.
D. glabriscapa	Tropical annual	Kimberley, Western Australia	Wet-season annual	Warm terrarium	D. indica complex.
D. hartmeyerorum	Tropical annual	Kimberley and adjacent Northern Territory	Wet-season annual	Lights, warm terrarium	A red D. finlaysoniana look-alike with yellow glands at the leaf bases.
D. indica	Tropical annual	Africa, Madagascar, India, South-east Asia, China to Japan; not Australia	Wet-season annual	Lights, warm terrarium	Seedlings do best at about 25 °C (77 °F) in a very warm, bright spot.
D. maanyaa-gooljoo	Tropical annual	Kimberley, Western Australia (two known sites)	Wet-season annual	Warm terrarium	Described in 2023 in the D. indica complex; the name means centipede grass in two Kimberley languages. Not in cultivation.
D. margaritacea	Tropical annual	Western Kimberley, Western Australia	Wet-season annual	Warm terrarium	D. indica complex.
D. nana	Tropical annual	Near Darwin, Northern Territory	Wet-season annual	Warm terrarium	D. indica complex; 7 to 10 cm tall.
D. serpens	Tropical annual	Northern and north-western Australia, South-east Asia, China, Vietnam, Philippines	Wet-season annual	Lights, warm terrarium	D. indica complex; yellow glands on red stalks.
D. sessilifolia	Tropical annual	Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela and neighbouring countries	Wet-season annual; lives for years if flower stalks are removed	Lights, warm terrarium	Seed germinates at 20 to 25 °C (68 to 77 °F). Grown exactly like D. burmannii.
D. banksii	Woolly sundew	Northern Australia and New Guinea	Erect wet-season annual	Warm terrarium	Dies back before flowering if the season is missed; grow it like D. indica or a summer-growing tuberous species. Self-compatible.
D. brevicornis	Woolly sundew	Northern Australia	Grows in the wet season; shrinks to a hairy bud in the dry season	Warm terrarium
D. broomensis	Woolly sundew	Western Kimberley, Western Australia	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium
D. caduca	Woolly sundew	Kimberley, Western Australia	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium	Drops its leaf blades in the dry season, leaving the hairy stalks.
D. darwinensis	Woolly sundew	Northern Territory near Darwin	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium
D. derbyensis	Woolly sundew	Kimberley, Western Australia	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium	Its hybrids are common and vigorous.
D. dilatatopetiolaris	Woolly sundew	Northern Territory, common near Darwin	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium	Clump-forming; one of the larger species.
D. falconeri	Woolly sundew	Northern Territory, Darwin area	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium	The one with Venus-flytrap-shaped leaves; no closer to Dionaea than any other sundew.
D. fulva	Woolly sundew	Northern Territory	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium
D. kenneallyi	Woolly sundew	Kimberley, Western Australia	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium
D. lanata	Woolly sundew	Northern Australia	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium	The woolliest; the most adapted to a dry winter.
D. ordensis	Woolly sundew	East Kimberley and Northern Territory	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium	White-felted leaf stalks; long sold as D. petiolaris ‘Kununurra’.
D. paradoxa	Woolly sundew	Kimberley and Northern Territory	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium, lights in a warm room	The easiest of the group, tolerating lower temperatures than the rest.
D. petiolaris	Woolly sundew	Northern Australia and New Guinea	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium	The type of the complex and a good beginner choice. Likes waterlogged conditions in the wet season.
D. stipularis	Woolly sundew	Northern Australia	Wet-season growth, dry-season bud	Warm terrarium	Recently described; rare in cultivation.
D. subtilis	Woolly sundew	Northern Australia	Erect wet-season annual	Warm terrarium	Resembles a climbing tuberous sundew but forms no tuber and dies in the dry season.

Tropical highland sundews: cool nights

Thirty-three species that grow at 700 to 2,800 m (2,300 to 9,200 ft) near the equator: Brazil’s campo rupestre, the sandstone tepuis of Venezuela and Guyana, Andean seeps, and the mountains of Madagascar and East Africa. Warm days, cool nights, and no cold season. They are the sundews for a cool greenhouse or a cool room under lights, and the ones most often killed by a hot summer.

• Temperature: about 15 to 25 °C (59 to 77 °F), the cooler the better. The tepui plant D. hirticalyx wants cooler still, with a distinct drop at night and nothing wrong with 5 °C (41 °F); it dies in long spells of warm days.
• Rest: most grow all year. D. montana and a few other campo rupestre species come from seasonal savannas and die back after summer flowering to a thick fleshy taproot, like D. cistiflora; in a greenhouse they are kept only slightly moist until they resprout, and in a terrarium they can be grown wet all year. Several Brazilian species flower better after a drier spell.
• Light and air: strong light, with extra light in a dark winter, and moving air. The hairy-crowned D. graminifolia, D. chrysolepis and D. villosa rot from the crown in still humid air and from the roots in a hot wet summer; they are plants for growers who already keep D. regia alive.
• Easiest: D. roraimae, D. felix, D. kaieteurensis, D. esmeraldae, D. ascendens, D. tomentosa and D. latifolia (the plant usually sold as D. villosa).
• Spaces: cool greenhouse; lights in a cool room; cold greenhouse kept frost-free for the easy ones. Not a windowsill group.

Tropical highland species

Species	Group	Native range	Wild rhythm	Grow it in	Notes
D. humbertii	African mountain	Madagascar: Marojejy massif, 1,400 to 2,100 m, in subalpine meadows	Not established	Cool greenhouse, lights	Montane; rare in cultivation. Cooler nights and a slightly drier summer are the usual advice.
D. pilosa	African mountain	Mountains of Cameroon, Guinea, Kenya and Tanzania, 2,200 to 2,700 m	Not established	Cool greenhouse, lights	High mountain bogs near the equator; rare in cultivation and best given cooler nights.
D. ascendens	Brazilian highland	Brazil: northern Diamantina plateau, Minas Gerais	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights, cold greenhouse kept frost-free	The easy one of the Brazilian highlanders: grows well at 15 to 25 °C (59 to 77 °F), the cooler the better, in a greenhouse all year.
D. camporupestris	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Serra do Cipó region, Minas Gerais, about 1,200 to 1,400 m	Grows all year; never dormant, though its seepages can dry in the winter dry season	Cool greenhouse, lights	Wants slightly cooler conditions than D. ascendens, otherwise as easy.
D. chimaera	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Grão Mogol, Minas Gerais, about 700 m	Not established	Cool greenhouse, lights	Three known populations in sandstone seeps. Treat like D. graomogolensis.
D. chrysolepis	Brazilian highland	Brazil: highlands of southern Bahia and Minas Gerais	Perennial; some die-back in the dry season	Cool greenhouse	Not easy: rots from the roots in hot summers. Cool roots, not permanently wet in summer, strong light in winter, moving air. Seed stays viable for years.
D. graminifolia	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Serra do Caraça, Minas Gerais, 1,800 to 1,950 m	Grows all year; winter in habitat 0 to 18 °C (32 to 64 °F), summer 20 to 40 °C (68 to 104 °F) in sun	Cool greenhouse	Not easy; the same needs as D. chrysolepis and D. villosa. A plant for growers who already succeed with D. regia.
D. grantsaui	Brazilian highland	Brazil: central highlands, 550 to 1,550 m; possibly eastern Paraguay	Grows all year; flowers in the late dry season	Lights (enclosed terrarium), cool greenhouse	Likes high air humidity and does best in an enclosed terrarium; failed in a greenhouse. Seed is short-lived and must be sown at once.
D. graomogolensis	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Grão Mogol, Minas Gerais, 700 to 1,420 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights	Grown like D. ascendens; sulks in warm weather.
D. latifolia	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Minas Gerais south to Paraná and Santa Catarina	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights, cold greenhouse kept frost-free	Formerly D. villosa var. latifolia and the plant usually sold as D. villosa; grown like D. ascendens.
D. magnifica	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Pico do Padre Ângelo, Minas Gerais, about 1,500 m	Not established	Cool greenhouse	The largest New World sundew, from a single mountaintop; rare in cultivation. Treat like D. graminifolia.
D. montana	Brazilian highland	Brazil (Santa Catarina to Goiás and Bahia), Argentina, Paraguay, Venezuela; 800 to 2,500 m	Short dry-season rest as a thick fleshy root; dies back after flowering in summer	Cool greenhouse, lights	Kept only slightly moist while resting, like D. cistiflora; in a terrarium it can be grown wet all year.
D. quartzicola	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais, 1,100 to 1,360 m	Perennial in habitat that dries hard in the dry season	Cool greenhouse	About 300 plants in the wild in quartz gravel; rare in cultivation.
D. riparia	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, 850 to 1,850 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights	Stream-bank species; grown like D. ascendens.
D. schwackei	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Espinhaço range, Minas Gerais, 1,200 to 1,400 m	Leaves curl and lose turgor in the dry season	Cool greenhouse, lights	Formerly D. montana var. schwackei; a little cooler than D. ascendens, otherwise as easy.
D. spiralis	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Espinhaço range, Minas Gerais, 700 to 1,500 m	Grows all year in seeps that may dry in winter	Cool greenhouse	Grown like D. graminifolia, of which it was once a variety.
D. spirocalyx	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Serra do Cipó to Diamantina, Minas Gerais, 800 to 1,600 m	Rests in the dry winter	Cool greenhouse	Let the pot dry to just damp for a few months to bring on flowering.
D. tentaculata	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Diamantina region, Minas Gerais, 950 to 1,500 m	Perennial in sand that dries hard in the dry season; rosettes weaken after flowering	Cool greenhouse	Rare in cultivation.
D. tomentosa	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Sergipe, Bahia, Goiás and Minas Gerais, 700 to 2,050 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights, cold greenhouse kept frost-free	Formerly D. montana var. tomentosa; grown like D. ascendens.
D. villosa	Brazilian highland	Brazil: Serra Negra and Serra do Ibitipoca, southern Minas Gerais, 1,400 to 1,750 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse	Not easy; cool roots, not permanently wet in summer, air movement and winter lights. Most plants sold as D. villosa are D. latifolia.
D. arenicola	Tepui and Andean	Venezuela: tepui plateaus above 1,200 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights with cool nights	Like D. felix but drier: old plants rot if kept wet and humid all the time.
D. cendeensis	Tepui and Andean	Venezuelan Andes, Trujillo and Lara	Flat rosette leaves in the dry season, erect leaves and flowers in the wet	Cool greenhouse, lights	Montane; rare in cultivation.
D. condor	Tepui and Andean	Cordillera del Cóndor, Peru and Ecuador	Not established	Cool greenhouse	Described in 2016; rare in cultivation. Highland.
D. esmeraldae	Tepui and Andean	Venezuela and Colombia, highlands	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights	Rather easy, grown like D. felix.
D. felix	Tepui and Andean	Venezuela and the Guianas, Guiana Shield	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights, cold greenhouse kept frost-free	Easy: 15 to 25 °C (59 to 77 °F), the cooler the better. Some treat it as a form of D. kaieteurensis.
D. hirticalyx	Tepui and Andean	Venezuela and the Brazil and Guyana borders, 1,000 to 2,500 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse only	The hardest South American sundew: a summit tepui plant that dies in long warm spells. Keep as cool as possible with a distinct night drop; nights to 5 °C (41 °F) are fine, and habitat nights touch 0 °C (32 °F).
D. kaieteurensis	Tepui and Andean	Guyana and Venezuela, 460 to 2,400 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights	Grown like D. felix; plants from high sites want it cooler.
D. meristocaulis	Tepui and Andean	Cerro de la Neblina, Venezuela and Brazil, 1,900 to 2,200 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights	A pygmy relative at the equator. Needs less humidity than the others and rots if left standing in a tray.
D. peruensis	Tepui and Andean	Eastern Andes, Peru and southern Ecuador, 2,000 to 2,800 m	Not established	Cool greenhouse	Highland seepage plant; rare in cultivation.
D. roraimae	Tepui and Andean	Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana: tepui summits and the Gran Sabana above 1,000 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse, lights, cold greenhouse kept frost-free	The beginner’s tepui sundew: 15 to 25 °C (59 to 77 °F), the cooler the better; needs cooling in hot summer weather and extra light in winter.
D. solaris	Tepui and Andean	Guyana: Pakaraima mountains, about 2,065 m	Grows all year	Cool greenhouse	Like D. felix but drier; rots if kept wet and humid all the time.
D. viridis	Tepui and Andean	Southern Brazil, São Paulo to Santa Catarina, 550 to 1,100 m	Grows all year; flowers all year	Cool greenhouse, lights	A little cooler than D. ascendens, otherwise as easy.
D. yutajensis	Tepui and Andean	Venezuela: Río Coro-Coro valley, 600 to 1,800 m	Not established	Cool greenhouse, lights	Sandstone outcrops near water; rare in cultivation.

Winter growers: a dry summer rest

The largest type, with 146 species, nearly all from the two winter-rainfall corners of the southern hemisphere: south-western Australia and the Cape. Winters there are wet and mild, summers long and dry, and the plants grow from autumn to spring and sit out the summer underground or as a bud. Their year runs backwards to a northern grower’s eye, and the summer rest is the thing to get right.

Tuberous sundews: a dry summer as a tuber

Seventy-one species, nearly all from Western Australia, with the D. peltata complex extending through south-eastern Australia and New Zealand into Asia. The tuber sprouts in early autumn with the first rains, the plant grows and flowers through the cool wet winter, and after flowering in late spring it dies back to a new tuber deep in the sand to wait out the dry summer.

• Temperature: cool, with plenty of light. Growth above about 25 °C (77 °F) brings on die-back and kills seedlings; most species take light frost. A terrarium is usually too warm.
• Rest: when the plants die back, take the pot out of the tray and let it dry, then keep it just damp through summer in a shaded, humid place: a plastic bag, a terrarium with gravel and water in the bottom, or under a greenhouse bench. Return the pots to the water tray in early autumn. Never force a plant into dormancy before it is blooming size and has grown for six or seven months. D. gigantea and D. sulphurea, from swamps that rarely dry, must never dry out completely; D. whittakeri is kept slightly damp.
• Easiest: the D. peltata complex, the D. stolonifera complex and D. menziesii.
• Spaces: cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors in a winter-rainfall climate, mild bog in pots that can be lifted for summer, lights in a cool room with a seasonal timer. Not a windowsill or warm terrarium plant.

Pygmy sundews: winter growth, a summer bud, gemmae in autumn

More than fifty species, all but one confined to south-western Australia. They grow and flower from autumn to spring, spend summer as a bud of silvery stipule hairs with a long root drawing water from deep sand, and in autumn produce gemmae, pinhead buds that rain splashes off and that root into new plants.

• Temperature: mild winter growers; outdoors all year where winters are mild, indoors or in a greenhouse for winter elsewhere. Seed germinates at 20 to 25 °C (68 to 77 °F).
• Rest: in a pot that is never allowed to dry out, most species carry on through summer. In real summer heat some (D. callistos, D. hyperostigma, D. enodes, D. leucoblasta among them) retreat into the stipule bud; keep those barely damp until autumn. D. pulchella, from cooler, wetter sites, rarely forms a bud at all. The one pygmy outside Western Australia, D. pygmaea, grows under snow in the mountains of south-eastern Australia and New Zealand and is the cold-hardy member.
• Light: intense, on a natural day length. Constant light under a timer set to twelve hours stops flowering and gemmae; outdoor plants do better than terrarium plants.
• Spaces: frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, mild bog with summer shelter, lights with a seasonal timer. Not a windowsill plant.

South African winter growers: a dry summer as a fleshy root

The Cape has the same winter-rainfall climate as Western Australia, and about fifteen of its sundews answer it the same way: D. cistiflora, D. pauciflora, D. trinervia, D. alba, D. coccipetala, D. zeyheri, D. cuneifolia, D. hilaris, D. xerophila and their relatives grow through the wet winter, flower in spring and die back as the ground dries, surviving the summer as a cluster of thick succulent roots rather than a tuber. The Cape sundew and the other evergreen rosettes grow a few kilometres away in seeps that never dry, which is why they behave so differently.

• Temperature: cool. D. pauciflora in a Southern Hemisphere garden sprouts between February and April at 15 to 20 °C by night and 25 to 35 °C by day (59 to 68 °F and 77 to 95 °F), fills out in six weeks, then grows slowly through a winter of 2 to 15 °C nights and 13 to 25 °C days (36 to 59 °F and 55 to 77 °F), flowers between July and September and goes dormant between October and December. Translate to your own hemisphere.
• Rest: take the pot out of the water tray when the plant dies back and store it out of rain and sun; water lightly about once a month so the mix never dries completely, because a bone-dry root desiccates and a wet one rots. Seedlings must have made a good root by the end of their first spring to survive their first summer.
• Spaces: cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors in a winter-rainfall climate, lights in a cool room on a seasonal timer. They are not windowsill plants and not for novices.

The winter annual

D. glanduligera, the catapult sundew of southern Australia, is a winter annual with a very short life. Seed germinates at 8 to 12 °C (46 to 54 °F); the plants want nights of 1 to 8 °C (34 to 46 °F) and days of 15 to 25 °C (59 to 77 °F) in full sun, flower once nights pass 8 °C (46 °F), and die. Warmth brings early flowering. A cold greenhouse or cold frame suits it.

Winter-growing species

Species	Group	Native range	Wild rhythm	Grow it in	Notes
D. albonotata	Pygmy	Western Australia (wheatbelt)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Sandy clay loam in wandoo woodland
D. allantostigma	Pygmy	Western Australia (Hill River)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Loam and peaty sand at winter-wet hollows
D. androsacea	Pygmy	Western Australia (south of Perth)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Stony sandy loam that dries hard in summer
D. australis	Pygmy	Western Australia (south coast)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Sand over laterite near wet depressions
D. barbigera	Pygmy	Western Australia (Eneabba to York)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Laterite hilltops
D. bindoon	Pygmy	Western Australia (Muchea to Wannamal)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Heavy laterite soils
D. callistos	Pygmy	Western Australia (Gidgegannup, Brookton Highway)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Laterite sand and pure sand patches. Goes dormant in hot summers; keep barely damp
D. citrina	Pygmy	Western Australia (Moore River)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Deep yellow sand under Banksia. Sold as D. coalara
D. closterostigma	Pygmy	Western Australia (Gingin to Cataby)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Deep sand in winter-wet depressions
D. coomallo	Pygmy	Western Australia (Badgingarra to Coomallo)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Laterite pebbles on hill slopes
D. depauperata	Pygmy	Western Australia (Lake Pleasant View)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Lake margins under paperbarks
D. dichrosepala	Pygmy	Western Australia (Woodanilling to Nyabing)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Shallow sand over laterite. True species rare in cultivation; plants sold under this name are usually D. verrucata
D. echinoblastus	Pygmy	Western Australia (Hill River to Mount Lesueur)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Clayey sand beside winter-wet streams. Furry white stipule bud through the dry summer
D. eneabba	Pygmy	Western Australia (Eneabba to Mount Lesueur)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	White sand in low heath
D. enodes	Pygmy	Western Australia (Scott River, Windy Harbour)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Black peaty sand on swamp margins. May go dormant in heat; keep nearly dry then
D. gibsonii	Pygmy	Western Australia (Stirling Range)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Clayey sandy watershed slopes
D. grievei	Pygmy	Western Australia (Lake Grace to Newdegate)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Sandy clay with laterite
D. helodes	Pygmy	Western Australia (Bullsbrook to Gingin)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Winter-wet depressions in grey sand
D. hyperostigma	Pygmy	Western Australia (Darling Range)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Laterite and sand in open forest. Goes dormant in hot summers; keep barely damp
D. lasiantha	Pygmy	Western Australia (Porongurup, Mount Lindesay)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Loam-laterite scree in jarrah forest
D. leioblastus	Pygmy	Western Australia (Cataby)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Sand with leaf litter and laterite
D. leucoblasta	Pygmy	Western Australia (York to Esperance)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Clayey sand and laterite heath. May go dormant in heat
D. leucostigma	Pygmy	Western Australia (Cataby to Mogumber)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Margins of winter-wet depressions
D. mannii	Pygmy	Western Australia (Gleneagle to Jarrahdale)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Jarrah forest loam and winter-wet creeks
D. meristocaulis	Pygmy	Venezuela and Brazil (Cerro de la Neblina, 1,700 to 2,200 m)	Grows all year; no gemmae	Cool greenhouse, lights	Rocky savanna watercourses near the equator. Equatorial highland plant; no gemmae, no seasonal cycle
D. micra	Pygmy	Western Australia (Perth region)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Described in 2014 as the smallest pygmy; a parent of D. × badgerupii. Very close to D. pygmaea
D. micrantha	Pygmy	Western Australia (Perth to Albany)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	White sand at swamp margins and Banksia woodland. Long grown as D. paleacea
D. microscapa	Pygmy	Western Australia (Denmark to Frenchmans Bay)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Black silty sand in seepages
D. miniata	Pygmy	Western Australia (Gidgegannup to York)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Granite aprons in open forest
D. minutiflora	Pygmy	Western Australia (Cataby to The Lakes)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Deep white sand heath. Formerly D. parvula
D. nitidula	Pygmy	Western Australia (Augusta to Cape Le Grand)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Clayey sand in winter-wet depressions
D. nivea	Pygmy	Western Australia (Coorow)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Pale sand under low shrubs
D. occidentalis	Pygmy	Western Australia (Gingin to Pinjarra)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Peaty sand around swamps
D. omissa	Pygmy	Western Australia (Kalbarri to Ravensthorpe)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Deep sand at winter-wet margins. Self-pollinating; easy from seed; sold as D. ericksoniae
D. oreopodion	Pygmy	Western Australia (base of the Darling Range)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Sandy clay with laterite
D. paleacea	Pygmy	Western Australia (Albany)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Black sandy flats flooded in winter. True species rarely grown
D. patens	Pygmy	Western Australia (Perth area)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Sandy swamp and lake margins
D. pedicellaris	Pygmy	Western Australia (Three Springs to Nambung)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Deep sand heath
D. platystigma	Pygmy	Western Australia (Albany to Ravensthorpe)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Clayey sand, laterite or loam
D. pulchella	Pygmy	Western Australia (Perth to Esperance)	Winter growth; rarely forms a summer bud	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Lake, swamp and stream margins. Cooler, wetter summers in habitat; rarely forms a summer bud
D. pycnoblasta	Pygmy	Western Australia (Pingelly to Lake King)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Sand over laterite in open heath
D. pygmaea	Pygmy	South-eastern Australia, Tasmania, south-west Western Australia, New Zealand	Winter growth, summer bud; some populations under snow for months	Mild bog, cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors, lights	Swamp margins to alpine ground; under snow for months in the mountains. The one pygmy outside Western Australia and the most cold-tolerant
D. rechingeri	Pygmy	Western Australia (Kalbarri to Dongara)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Deep sand in open heath
D. roseana	Pygmy	Western Australia (Albany to Augusta)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Peaty sand on swamp margins
D. sargentii	Pygmy	Western Australia (Esperance to Cape Arid)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Deep sand and coastal dunes
D. scorpioides	Pygmy	Western Australia (Albany to Gidgegannup)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Laterite outcrops with sand. The giant pygmy, on a stem
D. sewelliae	Pygmy	Western Australia (Chittering to Toodyay)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Laterite with sand in open forest
D. silvicola	Pygmy	Western Australia (Avon Valley to Boddington)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Laterite hilltops in jarrah forest
D. spilos	Pygmy	Western Australia (Bannister to Eneabba)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Loam with laterite near granite
D. stelliflora	Pygmy	Western Australia (Busselton to Margaret River)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Laterite in jarrah forest
D. trichocaulis	Pygmy	Western Australia (Stirling Range to Cape Arid)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Deep sand and laterite under heath
D. verrucata	Pygmy	Western Australia (Albany to Manypeaks)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Clayey sand in heath. Usually grown under the name D. dichrosepala
D. walyunga	Pygmy	Western Australia (Walyunga National Park)	Winter growth, summer stipule bud, gemmae in autumn	Frost-free outdoors, cold greenhouse, lights	Winter-wet springs and seepages near granite
D. acaulis	South African winter grower	Western Cape mountains, mostly above 1,200 m; snow on the Matroosberg in winter	Winter growth; summer rest	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall)	Seepages fed by snowmelt; rare in cultivation. Treat like D. trinervia.
D. afra	South African winter grower	Western Cape mountains, high seepages	Winter growth; summer rest	Cold greenhouse	Often treated as a form of D. trinervia.
D. alba	South African winter grower	Western Cape (Gifberg, Cederberg) and Northern Cape (Bokkeveld)	Emerges in May, flowers from August, dies back to a thick fleshy root as the seepages dry	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall)	Thin soil over sandstone at the edge of ephemeral pools.
D. atrostyla	South African winter grower	Western Cape alluvial fynbos near Romansrivier and Hermon	Emerges with the winter rains, flowers July to September, rests through summer	Cold greenhouse	Often treated as a form of D. pauciflora.
D. cistiflora	South African winter grower	Namaqualand to Port Elizabeth, 20 to 1,250 m, on well-drained moist sand and renosterveld	Winter growth; after seeding retreats to two or three succulent roots for the dry summer	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	The one with the big flowers. Not long-lived in containers and not for novices; pots out of the tray in summer but never bone dry.
D. coccipetala	South African winter grower	Western Cape: Overberg renosterveld around Caledon and Bot River	Emerges with the winter rains, flowers August to September, dies back to a fleshy root	Cold greenhouse	Scarlet flowers. Habitat fragments only.
D. cuneifolia	South African winter grower	Cape Peninsula only, to about 915 m, in peaty seeps and sandy flats	Winter growth; usually dormant in summer, less so in permanently wet spots	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall)	Hardy winter grower; very minimal light watering through the rest.
D. ericgreenii	South African winter grower	Western Cape mountains near Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, high up on clay banks	Winter growth; usually a summer rest	Cold greenhouse	Described in 2008; sheltered clay banks between shrubs.
D. esterhuyseniae	South African winter grower	Western Cape: Grabouw, Sir Lowry’s Pass, Hottentots Holland	Winter growth; long roots reach moisture through the dry summer	Cold greenhouse	Coastal well-drained fynbos. Rest handled as for D. trinervia.
D. hilaris	South African winter grower	Western Cape: Grabouw, Silvermine, Hermanus, Kleinrivier mountains, on steep well-drained slopes	Winter growth with a summer rest; dies back in frost and regrows from the roots	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall)	Like a stout Cape sundew with paddle leaves on a stem.
D. pauciflora	South African winter grower	Western Cape: Swartland around Darling and Malmesbury, Tulbagh basin, to about 1,000 m	New growth February to April (southern autumn), full rosettes in six weeks, flowers July to September, dormant October to December	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	The largest flowers in the genus. Grown in deep pots in equal peat and sand; in growth, nights of 2 to 15 °C and days of 13 to 25 °C (36 to 59 °F and 55 to 77 °F) in winter; dormant pots stored out of rain and sun and watered lightly about monthly so the roots never desiccate or rot.
D. ramentacea	South African winter grower	Western Cape: Cape Peninsula to Riviersonderend, on steep rocky slopes, never in wet places	Flowers in late spring; forms a resting bud, reported for both the coldest months and the dry summer	Cold greenhouse	Sources disagree on which season it rests in; give it a cool winter and a drier summer and watch the bud.
D. trinervia	South African winter grower	Namaqualand to Agulhas and the Eastern Cape, 15 to 2,200 m, in seepages, soaks and burnt bushland	Winter growth; loose summer dormancy as fleshy roots	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	The commonest Cape sundew and a hardy winter grower; pots out of the tray in summer with very minimal light watering.
D. xerophila	South African winter grower	Western Cape: Overberg coastal ranges, upper slopes in dry shallow sand	Winter growth, flowers in early summer, then a summer rest on long roots	Cold greenhouse	Described in 2018; drier rocky fynbos than its relatives.
D. zeyheri	South African winter grower	Western Cape to Port Alfred, in renosterveld and fynbos	Winter growth; summer to autumn rest like D. cistiflora	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall)	Some treat it as a form of D. cistiflora.
D. aberrans	Tuberous	South Australia and Victoria	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, mild bog (pots lifted for summer), frost-free outdoors, lights in a cool room	Mallee, heath and open forest on sand, laterite or limestone clay. Stoloniferous.
D. andersoniana	Tuberous	Western Australia (wheatbelt)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Loam washes and gullies, clayey sand, gravel near granite.
D. atrata	Tuberous	Western Australia (Warradarge to Badgingarra)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Lateritic hill slopes in poorly drained sandy clay.
D. auriculata	Tuberous	South-eastern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, mild bog (pots lifted for summer), frost-free outdoors, lights in a cool room	Seasonally moist mineral soils to 1,300 m. Cooler-climate member of the D. peltata complex.
D. basifolia	Tuberous	Western Australia (wheatbelt)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Winter-wet depressions that flood in winter and dry in summer.
D. bicolor	Tuberous	Western Australia (Lake King)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Deep white sand in heath.
D. browniana	Tuberous	Western Australia (Forrestania)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Rock pools (gnammas) on granite.
D. bulbigena	Tuberous	Western Australia (Perth to Brunswick Junction)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Winter-wet peaty sand on swamp margins.
D. bulbosa	Tuberous	Western Australia (Perth, wheatbelt, Jurien Bay)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Moss pads and loam around granite outcrops.
D. calycina	Tuberous	Western Australia (Darling Range)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Laterite loam in jarrah woodland.
D. collina	Tuberous	Western Australia (Darling Range)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Shaded jarrah forest on laterite loam.
D. drummondii	Tuberous	Western Australia	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Deep sand under Banksia and Darling Range loam, never swampy. Sites dry out completely.
D. eremaea	Tuberous	Western Australia (Murchison goldfields)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Granite aprons and winter-wet creeks in semi-desert. Extreme summer heat in habitat.
D. erythrogyne	Tuberous	Western Australia (Augusta to Albany)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Swamps, springs and granite aprons, with Cephalotus. Habitat stays wetter than most.
D. erythrorhiza	Tuberous	Western Australia (Perth, Yanchep, Pinjarra)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Deep sand in heath and coastal woodland. Sites dry out completely.
D. esperensis	Tuberous	Western Australia (east of Esperance)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Moss and black silt on granite aprons.
D. fimbriata	Tuberous	Western Australia (Scott River to Denmark)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Winter-wet well-drained sand in heath, moss on granite.
D. geniculata	Tuberous	Western Australia (Scott River, Northcliffe)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Black sandy swamp margins above winter water level.
D. gigantea	Tuberous	Western Australia (widespread south-west)	Autumn to spring growth; summer rest as a tuber in soil that stays damp	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Swamp, lake and granite margins, often standing in water. Must never dry out completely.
D. gracilis	Tuberous	South-eastern Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea highlands	Spring and summer growth in alpine sites, winter under snow; a tuber rest in the dry or frozen season	Cold greenhouse, mild bog (pots lifted for summer), frost-free outdoors, lights in a cool room	Alpine snowfield peat to lowland swamp sand. The hardiest tuberous species by habitat.
D. graniticola	Tuberous	Western Australia (Hyden, Varley, Kulin)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Gritty loam around granite.
D. gunniana	Tuberous	South-eastern Australia, Tasmania, northern New Zealand	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, mild bog (pots lifted for summer), frost-free outdoors, lights in a cool room	Grassy woodland and lawns at low elevation. D. peltata complex.
D. heterophylla	Tuberous	Western Australia (Mingenew to Perth)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Swamp margins, wet clay flats, winter streams. Sites dry out.
D. hirsuta	Tuberous	Western Australia (Clackline to Kalbarri)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	White or yellow sand heath.
D. hookeri	Tuberous	South-eastern Australia and Tasmania	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, mild bog (pots lifted for summer), frost-free outdoors, lights in a cool room	Granite depressions, swamp margins, herb fields. D. peltata complex, self-pollinating.
D. hortiorum	Tuberous	Western Australia (York, Wickepin)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Clay loam on granite and sandplain channels.
D. huegelii	Tuberous	Western Australia (south coast and wheatbelt)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Swamp margins, winter-wet depressions, coastal heath.
D. humilis	Tuberous	Western Australia (Moore River to Kalbarri)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Well-drained winter-wet deep sand.
D. indumenta	Tuberous	Western Australia (Casuarina to Margaret River)	Autumn to spring growth; summer rest as a tuber in soil that stays slightly damp	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Winter-flooded swamp flats, climbs sedges. Habitat usually stays moist.
D. intricata	Tuberous	Western Australia (widespread south-west)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Seasonal creek beds and winter-wet watercourses.
D. koikyennuruff	Tuberous	Western Australia (Stirling Range)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Sandy clay in low heath.
D. lowriei	Tuberous	Western Australia (Hyden to Lake King)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Moss on granite aprons. Sites dry out completely.
D. lunata	Tuberous	Eastern Australia through South-east Asia to India and Japan	Grows in the local wet season and rests as a tuber in the dry one; in the Asian tropics that is not a summer rest	Cold greenhouse or lights, timed to its own season	Seasonally wet sand, sea level to 3,600 m in tropical mountains. Rests in the local dry season, which is not always summer.
D. macrantha	Tuberous	Western Australia (Perth to Bodallin)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Sandy heath and woodland. No warm stratification needed.
D. macropetala	Tuberous	Western Australia (Dandaragan Plateau)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Lateritic hill slopes in sandy clay.
D. macrophylla	Tuberous	Western Australia (Calingiri to Wongan Hills)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Loam on granite aprons in full sun. Sites dry out.
D. magna	Tuberous	Western Australia (Jurien to Cataby)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Deep sand heath on the coastal plain. Sites dry out.
D. major	Tuberous	Western Australia (Mingenew to Yalgoo)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Loam over granite in semi-arid country.
D. marchantii	Tuberous	Western Australia (Bunbury to Dwellingup)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Shaded jarrah woodland on sand and laterite. Sites dry out.
D. menziesii	Tuberous	Western Australia (Albany to Cataby)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Swamp margins, winter streams, granite cracks. Beginner species.
D. microphylla	Tuberous	Western Australia (Albany to Manjimup)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Black silt over moss on granite.
D. modesta	Tuberous	Western Australia (Denmark to Stirling Range)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Shaded stream banks and waterfall mist in forest. Shade-tolerant.
D. monantha	Tuberous	Western Australia (Bruce Rock, Merredin)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Winter-wet watersheds in red loam, rock-hard in summer.
D. monticola	Tuberous	Western Australia (Stirling Range summits)	Autumn to spring growth; summer rest as a tuber in soil that stays slightly damp	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Cloud-covered mountain ledges, short winter snow. Habitat stays moist.
D. moorei	Tuberous	Western Australia (Southern Cross to Cape Arid)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Sandy loam on granite aprons.
D. myriantha	Tuberous	Western Australia (Augusta to east of Perth)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Peaty swamp margins, often in shallow water. Sites dry out.
D. neesii	Tuberous	Western Australia (Kalbarri to Cape Arid)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Sandy winter-wet habitats.
D. orbiculata	Tuberous	Western Australia (Mogumber, Gillingarra)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Sandy clay washes around laterite hills. Sites dry out completely.
D. pallida	Tuberous	Western Australia (Jurien to Pinjarra)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Deep peaty sand and Darling Range laterite.
D. peltata	Tuberous	South-eastern Australia and Tasmania	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, mild bog (pots lifted for summer), frost-free outdoors, lights in a cool room	Coastal and tableland wetlands to 1,600 m. The beginner’s tuberous sundew, self-pollinating.
D. planchonii	Tuberous	South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, eastern Western Australia	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, mild bog (pots lifted for summer), frost-free outdoors, lights in a cool room	Sand heath and shrubland.
D. platypoda	Tuberous	Western Australia (Manjimup to Cape Riche)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Saturated winter-wet grey sand.
D. porrecta	Tuberous	Western Australia (Eneabba to Pinjarra)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Sandplain, Banksia woodland, swamp margins.
D. praefolia	Tuberous	South Australia (Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, mild bog (pots lifted for summer), frost-free outdoors, lights in a cool room	Exposed dry sites and open woodland. Flowers before the leaves appear.
D. prophylla	Tuberous	Western Australia (Cataby to Coomallo)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Open laterite hilltops.
D. prostrata	Tuberous	Western Australia (Shark Bay to Binnu)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Yellow sandplain near the coast.
D. prostratoscaposa	Tuberous	Western Australia (Hopetoun to Bremer Bay)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Creek margins and scree, winter-wet. Sites dry out completely.
D. purpurascens	Tuberous	Western Australia (Mt Cooke to Albany)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Sand-laterite heath and stony clay woodland.
D. radicans	Tuberous	Western Australia (Northampton to Kalbarri)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Wet sloping sand and clay.
D. ramellosa	Tuberous	Western Australia (Kalbarri to Esperance)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Saturated winter-wet sand, lake shores, granite moss.
D. reflexa	Tuberous	Western Australia (Walpole to Denmark)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Moss on shallow granite soils.
D. rosulata	Tuberous	Western Australia (Perth to Busselton)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Winter-wet swamp flats and watersheds. Sites dry out completely.
D. rubricalyx	Tuberous	Western Australia (Lesueur National Park)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Seasonally moist heath flats.
D. rupicola	Tuberous	Western Australia (inland granite outcrops)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Loam washes on granite. D. stolonifera complex, beginner species.
D. salina	Tuberous	Western Australia (Lake King, Lake Seabrook)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Salt-lake margins in salt-free sand.
D. schmutzii	Tuberous	South Australia (Kangaroo Island)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, mild bog (pots lifted for summer), frost-free outdoors, lights in a cool room	Clay, laterite and limestone in open sun.
D. squamosa	Tuberous	Western Australia (Darling Range and south coast)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Peaty swamp margins and laterite forest.
D. stolonifera	Tuberous	Western Australia (Perth to Pinjarra)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Peaty paperbark swamp heath. Beginner species.
D. stricticaulis	Tuberous	Western Australia and South Australia	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Watercourses, winter-wet flats, granite washes.
D. subhirtella	Tuberous	Western Australia (wheatbelt)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Sandy and lateritic heath and woodland.
D. sulphurea	Tuberous	Western Australia (Albany to Scott River)	Autumn to spring growth; summer rest as a tuber in soil that stays damp	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Peaty swamp margins that rarely dry. Must never dry out completely.
D. thysanosepala	Tuberous	Western Australia (Cataby to Kalbarri)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Deep sand heath. Sites dry out.
D. tubaestylis	Tuberous	Western Australia (Canning Vale to Scott River)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Winter-wet swamp flats. Sites dry out completely.
D. whittakeri	Tuberous	South Australia (Mt Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island)	Autumn to spring growth; summer rest as a tuber in soil that stays slightly damp	Cold greenhouse, mild bog (pots lifted for summer), frost-free outdoors, lights in a cool room	Sand heath and open woodland. Wants cool nights and a natural day length.
D. yilgarnensis	Tuberous	Western Australia (Hyden to Coolgardie)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Granite rock pools and loam washes.
D. zigzagia	Tuberous	Western Australia (Lake Altham to Lake Seabrook)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Loamy sand above salt-lake flood level.
D. zonaria	Tuberous	Western Australia (Perth, Wongan Hills, Esperance)	Autumn to spring growth; dry summer rest as a tuber	Cold greenhouse, frost-free outdoors (winter rainfall), lights in a cool room	Deep sand heath and woodland.
D. glanduligera	Winter annual	Southern Australia from the south-west to Tasmania and the south-east	Winter annual with a very short life	Cold greenhouse, cold frame, cool room under lights	The catapult sundew. Seed germinates at 8 to 12 °C (46 to 54 °F); grow it with nights of 1 to 8 °C (34 to 46 °F) and days of 15 to 25 °C (59 to 77 °F) in full sun. Flowers once nights pass 8 °C (46 °F), then dies. Warmth brings early flowering.

Shortlists by space

Use these to narrow the table. Every name is explained there.

• Cold bog (hard winters): D. rotundifolia, D. anglica, D. intermedia (northern provenance), D. linearis (zone 7 and colder, in a fen-like mix), D. filiformis var. filiformis, the natural hybrids D. × obovata and D. × beleziana; D. arcturi and D. uniflora where summers stay cool.
• Mild bog (light frost): all of the above plus D. capillaris, D. brevifolia, D. filiformis var. floridana, D. tracyi and its hybrids, D. binata (Tasmanian and New Zealand forms), D. regia, D. pygmaea, and tuberous sundews in pots that are lifted for summer.
• Frost-free outdoors: the subtropical rosettes, the pygmies, the tuberous sundews and the South African winter growers (in a winter-rainfall climate), the warm temperate pair; the woolly sundews and tropical annuals in the tropics.
• Cold greenhouse: tuberous and pygmy sundews, the South African winter growers, D. glanduligera, D. regia, D. binata, the cold temperate species where the garden is too mild, and the easy Brazilian and tepui species kept frost-free.
• Windowsill: D. capensis, D. aliciae, D. spatulata, D. tokaiensis, D. admirabilis, D. nidiformis, D. slackii, D. dielsiana, D. natalensis, D. burkeana, D. hamiltonii, D. adelae out of direct sun, D. burmannii in a warm room, D. venusta in a cool one.
• Lights at room temperature: everything on the windowsill list, plus D. prolifera, the annuals, the Hawaiian D. anglica, the Mount Roraima D. intermedia, the Florida D. filiformis, D. amazonica, D. biflora, D. ascendens, D. roraimae and D. felix if the room is cool, and pygmies on a seasonal timer.
• Warm terrarium: the woolly sundews, the D. indica complex, D. burmannii, D. sessilifolia, D. madagascariensis, D. burkeana, D. affinis, D. amazonica, D. biflora.
• Cool greenhouse: D. schizandra, D. buubugujin, the Brazilian highlanders, the tepui and Andean species, D. hirticalyx above all, D. meristocaulis, D. pilosa, D. humbertii, D. rubrifolia, D. venusta and the cool forms of D. spatulata.

Names on labels that are not in the table

Nurseries keep old and informal names alive for decades. The commonest:

• D. dichotoma and D. ‘Giant’ are forms of D. binata; D. ‘Marston Dragon’ and D. ‘Triffida’ are cultivars of it.
• D. villosa in the trade is nearly always D. latifolia. D. montana var. tomentosa and var. schwackei are now D. tomentosa and D. schwackei.
• D. ericksoniae is D. omissa; D. coalara is D. citrina; D. parvula is D. minutiflora; D. nitidula subsp. allantostigma, subsp. leucostigma and subsp. omissa are D. allantostigma, D. leucostigma and D. patens. Most plants grown as D. paleacea are D. micrantha, and most grown as D. dichrosepala are D. verrucata.
• D. petiolaris ‘Kununurra’ is D. ordensis. D. ‘Botswana’ is D. madagascariensis.
• D. anglica ‘Hawaii’ or ‘Kauai’ is the non-dormant Hawaiian population; D. intermedia ‘Roraima’ or ‘Cuba’ are the non-dormant tropical forms; D. filiformis ‘Florida red’ is var. floridana; D. filiformis var. tracyi is D. tracyi.
• D. propinqua, D. minutula, D. triflora, D. lovellae and D. loureiroi are forms or hybrids within the D. spatulata complex. D. lunata is usually folded into D. peltata.
• D. longiscapa is D. curvipes. D. afra and D. atrostyla are doubtfully distinct from D. trinervia and D. pauciflora.

Hybrids

A hybrid’s year follows its parents. The northern natural hybrids (D. × obovata, D. × beleziana, D. × hybrida, D. × woodii) form hibernacula and need a cold bog; all are sterile and are propagated by division or leaf cuttings. D. × beleziana is larger and more vigorous than either parent. D. × californica and the other D. filiformis × D. tracyi crosses take winter better than D. tracyi itself. The pygmy hybrids (D. × badgerupii, D. × sidjamesii, D. × carbarup and others) are grown exactly like pygmies and can only be propagated by gemmae; D. × badgerupii kept under constant light for three years never changed season or made gemmae. The common nursery crosses among subtropical rosettes, such as D. capensis × D. spatulata, need no rest, though some slow sharply in winter chill.

A species that is not here

The genus gains three or four species a year, mostly from Australia and Brazil, and nursery lists carry names that have not been published. For a plant you cannot place, find its native range and altitude and look for the nearest group above: a Western Australian species with a tuber is a tuberous sundew whatever its name, a Minas Gerais plant from 1,200 m wants cool nights, a Kimberley plant wants heat. How to research an unfamiliar species gives the method; the sundew group page covers the soil, water and light rules that every species shares; and dormancy and seasonal changes shows what a resting plant looks like so you do not throw a live one away.