Whittaker’s Sundew,
Scented Sundew,
Whittaker's Sundew
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
Display IBRA region text
| Fleurieu (KAN02) | Kanmantoo | Least Concern |
| Mount Lofty Ranges (FLB01) | Flinders Lofty Block | Least Concern |
| Broughton (FLB02) | | Rare (IUCN: RA d(i)) |
| Olary Spur (FLB03) | | Rare (IUCN: RA d(i)) |
| St Vincent (EYB02) | Eyre Yorke Block | Rare (IUCN: RA d(i)) [edge of range] |
| Murray Mallee (MDD02) | Murray Darling Depression | Rare (IUCN: RA d(i,ii)) [edge of range] |
| Murray Lakes and Coorong (MDD03) | | Least Concern [undercollected , limited habitat; now known as whittakeri only] |
Botanical art
Kath Alcock painting: 1
Prior names
Drosera whittakeri ssp. whittakeri
Sondera whittakeri
Common names
Whittaker’s Sundew
Scented Sundew
Whittaker's Sundew
Etymology
Drosera from the Greek 'droseros' meaning dewy, alluding to the glistening hairs of the glandular leaf laminae. Whittakeri named after Joseph Whittaker (1813-1894), an English botanist known for his plants collections from around Adelaide and South Australia.
Distribution and status
Found on Kangaroo Island, Mount Lofty, Murray and South-East regions in South Australia growing in open damp sites in forest, heath and woodland. Also found in Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in other States.
Herbarium regions: Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Small herb with a vertical stolon 2-8 cm long; leaves in a flat rosette; lamina sessile spatulate, 15-35 mm long, 5-15 mm wide. Scapes 1 to many, 2-5 cm long, 1-flowered, white. Flowering all months but especially May-November. Fruits are red-brown ovoid to globose capsule to 8 mm diameter. Seeds are black angular ovoid-cylindrical seed to 1.5 mm long, with a mesh-like surface.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between October and December. Collect mature capsules, those that are fat, hard, turning brown and contain black seeds inside. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the capsules gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%.
| Location | No. of seeds
(weight grams) | Number
of plants | Date
collected | Collection number
Collection location | Date
stored | % Viability | Storage
temperature | BGA
MSB | 4,600 (1.4 g)
4,600 (1.4 g) | 100+ | 6-Oct-2005 | DJD136
Southern Lofty | 1-Aug-2006 | 100% | -18°C |
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
Germination table:
Display
| Date | Result | T0 | T50 | Pre-treatment | Germination medium | Incubator: Photoperiod / Thermoperiod |
| Jul-06 | 0% | NA | NA |
filter paper over moist sponge;
Incubated under spring/autumn conditions |
Result: Maximum percentage of germination observed.
T0: Number of days before first germinant observed.
T50: Number of days to achieve 50% germination.
Pre-treatment: The initial treatment that the seeds received prior to placement on germination media.
Germination medium: The substrate that seeds were placed on for the duration of the germination experiment.
Incubator conditions:
Photoperiod: The duration of light exposure that the seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Thermoperiod: The constant or diurnal temperatures that seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Winter conditions: 15°C 20 h (3am→11pm); 5°C 4 h (11pm→3am) / 10 h light (8am→6pm); 14 h dark (6pm→8am)
Spring/Autumn conditions: 22°C 12 h (8am→8pm); 10°C 12 h (8pm→8am) / 12 h light (8am→8pm); 12 h dark (8pm→8am)
Summer conditions: 30°C 14 h (6am→8pm); 15°C 10 h (8pm→6am) / 14 h light (6am→8pm); 10 h dark (8pm→6am)
