Drosera whittakeri

plant: Drosera whittakeri plants Deep Creek CP Richard Nunn

plant: Drosera whittakeri p Denzel Murfet Rockleigh

flower: Drosera whittakeri flower Deep Creek CP Richard Nunn

flower: Drosera whittakeri flower Denzel Murfet Mount Billy CP

flower: Drosera whittakeri flower Denzel Murfet Ferries Macdonald CP

fruit: Drosera whittakeri fruit Dan Duval

fruit: Drosera whittakeri fr Denzel Murfet Port Elliot

fruit: Drosera whittakeri frt Denzel Murfet Port Elliot

fruit: Drosera whittakeri fruit Denzel Murfet Port Elliot

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

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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1.

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%.

Seeds stored:

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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:

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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)

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]