Drosera admirabilis

Drosera admirabilis, the wonderful sundew, is a rosette sundew from South Africa.

Etymology: Drosera from Greek droseros, meaning ‘dewy’¹. Admirabilis means to admire or be wonderful because Paul Debbert described the adult plant as having an admirable appearance.²

This sundew looks a lot like other rosette sundews, like Drosera aliciae and Drosera cuneifolia. Adult Drosera admirabilis tends to be smaller than Drosera aliciae with a maximum diameter of about 5 cm. The leaves are relatively short and broad, comparable to D. aliciae, but unlike D. aliciae, they're broader and in most cases, the lamina will never turn orange/red. The leaf is 2 - 2.5 mm wide at the base and 5 - 6 mm wide at the end. Under good lighting, the tentacles turn a bright red, and in the case of this specimen, the leaf itself stays bright green.

The flower stalks are usually between 18 and 25 cm tall with 2-15 flowers. The flowers are pink to pale purple and 6-8 mm wide. There are 5 stamens with white filaments and yellow anthers. There are 3 stiles, which are each split at the base into 2 and end in a broad head.

Drosera admirabilis seeds are 0,4-0,7 mm in length and oval in shape with points at each end.

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drosera

2. https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/1209266