Drosera praefolia
Encyclopedia
Drosera praefolia is a perennial
tuber
ous species in the genus Drosera that is endemic to South Australia
. It grows in a rosette
4 to 6 cm in diameter with green or sometimes red leaves. It is native to south-east South Australia from the southern Fleurieu Peninsula
south to Kangaroo Island
. It grows in lateritic
clay-sand, loam
, or decomposed shale soils in open woodland. It flowers from April to May.
It was first formally described by Johann Gottlieb Otto Tepper in 1892 from specimens he collected on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Earlier in 1882 Tepper sent a description and specimens to Ferdinand von Mueller
, who labeled the plants as D. whittakeri var. aphylla, but never published the name. It's placement at the rank of species was controversial and several authors, including Raymond Hamet in 1907, John McConnell Black
in 1924, and Allen Lowrie
in 1989, have reorganized it below the species rank. Others have reduced it to synonymy
with Drosera whittakeri
. In 1991, Robert J. Bates made the case for recognition at the species rank, authoring the illegitimate name D. aphylla in the process, a name not based on the first validly published description. Recently, several authors have recognized the taxon at the subspecies or species rank, but others have still only recognized it as a part of the very variable single species D. whittakeri sensu lato. In a review of D. whittakeri and related species, Lowrie and John Godfrey Conran reestablished it at the species rank, arguing that the morphology is dissimilar enough from D. whittakeri that it requires its own species epithet. Lowrie and Conran note that D. praefolia is distinct from D. whittakeri (whose opposing characteristics presented in parentheses) by its white tuber
s (orange), leaves emerging after flowering (before flowering), and the ovate to obovate leaf shape
(broadly spathulate), among other differences.
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
tuber
Tuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
ous species in the genus Drosera that is endemic to South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. It grows in a rosette
Rosette (botany)
In botany, a rosette is a circular arrangement of leaves, with all the leaves at a single height.Though rosettes usually sit near the soil, their structure is an example of a modified stem.-Function:...
4 to 6 cm in diameter with green or sometimes red leaves. It is native to south-east South Australia from the southern Fleurieu Peninsula
Fleurieu Peninsula
The Fleurieu Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia. It was named after the French explorer and hydrographer Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin as he mapped the south coast of Australia in 1802.Towns of interest in the...
south to Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...
. It grows in lateritic
Laterite
Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminium, formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are rusty-red because of iron oxides. They develop by intensive and long-lasting weathering of the underlying parent rock...
clay-sand, loam
Loam
Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...
, or decomposed shale soils in open woodland. It flowers from April to May.
It was first formally described by Johann Gottlieb Otto Tepper in 1892 from specimens he collected on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Earlier in 1882 Tepper sent a description and specimens to Ferdinand von Mueller
Ferdinand von Mueller
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
, who labeled the plants as D. whittakeri var. aphylla, but never published the name. It's placement at the rank of species was controversial and several authors, including Raymond Hamet in 1907, John McConnell Black
John McConnell Black
John McConnell Black was a Scottish botanist who emigrated to Australia in 1877 and eventually documented and illustrated thousands of flora in South Australia in the early 20th century. His publications assisted many botanists and scientists in the decades that followed...
in 1924, and Allen Lowrie
Allen Lowrie
Allen Lowrie is a West Australian botanist. He is living in Duncraig, a Perth suburb, is married and has two daughters.Lowrie, originally a businessman and inventor, got in contact with the carnivorous flora of western Australia in the late sixties and worked on it as an amateur...
in 1989, have reorganized it below the species rank. Others have reduced it to synonymy
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
with Drosera whittakeri
Drosera whittakeri
Drosera whittakeri is a sundew that is native to South Australia.-Description:Plants are 4 to 8 cm in diameter, with broadly spathulate leaves arranged in a rosette. These may be green, orange-yellow or red in colour and are 10 to 15 mm long and 9 to 13 mm wide...
. In 1991, Robert J. Bates made the case for recognition at the species rank, authoring the illegitimate name D. aphylla in the process, a name not based on the first validly published description. Recently, several authors have recognized the taxon at the subspecies or species rank, but others have still only recognized it as a part of the very variable single species D. whittakeri sensu lato. In a review of D. whittakeri and related species, Lowrie and John Godfrey Conran reestablished it at the species rank, arguing that the morphology is dissimilar enough from D. whittakeri that it requires its own species epithet. Lowrie and Conran note that D. praefolia is distinct from D. whittakeri (whose opposing characteristics presented in parentheses) by its white tuber
Tuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
s (orange), leaves emerging after flowering (before flowering), and the ovate to obovate leaf shape
Leaf shape
In botany, leaf shape is characterised with the following terms :* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...
(broadly spathulate), among other differences.