Drosera meristocaulis

Description

Drosera meristocaulis is a perennial species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera, the only member of the subgenus Meristocaulis. It is a small, rosette- and branched stem-forming sundew that has many morphological affinities to the Australian pygmy sundews. D. meristocaulis is wholly endemic to Pico da Neblina, an isolated mountain on the Brazil-Venezuela border. Drosera meristocaulis produces small clumps of rosettes with red, spathulate leaves 5 to 12 mm long, which are interspersed with 10 mm long silver stipules. The rosettes of living leaves are borne on a short, branching stem covered in the persistent dead leaves of past years. The stems are vertical and can reach heights of about 15 cm (6 in). It produces pink flowers in December with undivided styles, an attribute that is not found in any other geographically proximal species of Drosera. Solitary flowers, 20 mm across, are nearly sessile, being produced very closely to the rosette of leaves. Because of how close the flowers are to the glandular trapping leaves, it has been suggested that this species' pollinator must be a large enough flying insect to not be trapped by the leaves. Drosera meristocaulis is known only from a few valleys on the northern side of Pico da Neblina. It has not yet been located on any other neighboring plateau of the Guiana Highlands, despite the presence of suitable habitat. According to the notes of the explorers who collected specimens, D. meristocaulis is locally frequent at altitudes from 1,900 to 2,200 m (6,200 to 7,200 ft). It grows in open bogs savannas, in swamps with Heliamphora neblinae, and along streams with Euterpe. Specimens collected from near the summit of Pico da Neblina are often found with lichens growing on the dead leaves still attached to the stem.