tuberous-drosera.net --- Drosera whittakeri

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Drosera whittakeri

Drosera whittakeri is a species closely related to Drosera aberrans, Drosera schmutzii and Drosera praefolia. It is also often referred to as Drosera whittakeri ssp. whittakeri.
Drosera whittakeri a rosetted species reaching up to 8 cm in diameter. It is the largest species in the whittakeri-complex. The colouration is variable and may range from green to bronze or red. Drosera whittakeri is more floriferous then the similar Drosera aberrans and several flowers may open at the same time for a single plant.
The tubers usually have an orange colour. Sometimes additional daughter tubers are produced but by far not as often and in those quantities known for Drosera aberrans.

You can find a full description of this species here: http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/95400/Tel122147Low.pdf: Lowrie and Conran, A review of Drosera whittakeri s. lat. (Droseraceae) and description of a new species from Kangaroo Island, South Australia, Telopea 2008, 12(2), 147–165; (file size 2.5 MB)


D. whittakeri tubers



Flowering plant of the Onkaparinga location form



Same clone a few years later





Plants and flowers of the Onkaparinga Gorge location form in different stages of development. This form has extremely long sepals.



Ripening process of a seed capsule. As the first sign the sepals bend backwards. A few days later the seed capsule blackens and breaks open to release the seeds. Several other species also behave this way, e.g. D. stolonifera or D. browniana.


In the 2015/2016 growing season this form was the first of all my tuberous Drosera to start off the flowering season in early october while more plants are getting ready to flower. It was close, however, as D. praefolia opened its first flower just a couple of days later.

Please respect that all texts and photos were created by me and may not be used without my permission.