Ok, not dangerous to you or me, but if you are a small, curious insect you are in whole lot of trouble with these guys.
Sundews (Drosera) have many tiny tentacles growing from each leaf and each tentacle has a drop of stickiness at the end. Any passing insect will quickly find itself stuck in the goo and ripe for digestion, as you can see by the fly stuck in the centre of the lowest leaf.
It amazes me that such small plants can be so successful in attracting meals. This baby plant was only about 4cm tall, and while I was getting ready to take this photo, the mozzie hanging down on the left was caught by the foot as it flew in for a look. It is unusual to see this type of sundew in our garden (there are a few different types out there) without most of the leaves hanging on to some hapless victim.
Every year when the weather gets cold these tiny killers start showing their faces. I love carnivorous plants and have a small collection of them so having wild ones growing in my garden makes me very happy.
You must be logged in to post a comment.