Round-leaved sundew

Seeds: 50  / Botanical name: Drosera rotundifolia

Discovered and first described by Charles Darwin in Sussex

The round-leaved sundew (Drosera) is a perennial plant that grows from a winter bud (hibernaculum) and forms rosettes of leaves covered with approximately 200 fine tentacles. At their tips are iridescent, sticky droplets that emit a honey-like fragrance. This scent is particularly attractive to fruit flies, which land on the droplets and cannot escape. After being trapped, the rosettes slowly curl up over a period of several hours and release a digestive enzyme that breaks down the insects. In the kitchen, the Drosera is an ideal plant for distracting fruit flies from fruit. Charles Darwin first discovered the round-leaved sundew on the plant in Sussex, England, in 1860 and was fascinated by the number of insects it captured. In 1875, he published his research on insectivorous plants. Until then, it was widely believed that carnivorous plants were contrary to the divinely ordained order of nature.

Natural habitat: The round-leaved sundew occurs in many locations across the northern hemisphere, from Europe and Asia to North America. It is even native to Iceland, Alaska, and Greenland, where it grows in bogs and wetlands.