Tuesday 3 June 2014

Sundew

Until this year we had only found sundew plants in one place, on the banks of a burn above Ormsaigbeg, but this year seems to be good for them - or it's simply that, having found them once, our eyes know what to look for.  The bright colour makes them noticeable, but they're tiny - that's a 10p piece on the right.

The only species we've found here is the round-leaved sundew.  It lives in small communities on swampy, nitrogen-poor, acid soils, and obtains nutrients by exuding a sweet liquid 'sundew' which attracts insects.  Once an insect has landed on the sticky liquid, the leaf curls over it and the juices digest it.

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