Round-leaved sundew in Polissia
Drosera rotundifolia
The round-leaved sundew is a tiny plant with a rosette of round leaves on long stalks. The leaves are covered with red hairs tipped with droplets of sticky mucilage that sparkle in the sun like dew. In summer a thin stem with small white flowers rises from the rosette.
The sundew grows on sphagnum bogs and peatlands and along the edges of forest lakes. In Polissia it is common on raised and transitional bogs, in the Rivne and Polissia nature reserves and on the bogs of Shatsk National Park.
Bog soils are poor in nutrients, so the sundew obtains them from insects. A small insect sticks to the droplets, the hairs slowly bend inwards and the leaf digests the prey. This process can be watched over several hours.
The sundew is small and fragile and easily trampled. Do not dig the plants up to take home: away from the bog they quickly die, and on the bog every rosette counts.
When to see: June–August
Where it was seen in Polissia
Observations from the open scientific database GBIF since 1990.
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