Species · genus Drosera · Droseraceae

Cape Sundew

Drosera capensis L.

Growth habit

perennial or subshrub

Native range

Cape Provinces

Reference · D. capensis

Cultivars of D. capensis

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under D. capensis yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Drosera capensis is a carnivorous sundew from the seasonally wet bogs of South Africa's Cape Provinces, where its roots sit in nutrient-poor, permanently moist acidic ground. Unlike most houseplants it must never dry out: stand the pot in a tray of pure rainwater or distilled water and keep the mineral-free mix constantly damp, topping the tray up before it empties. Avoid tap water and fertiliser, which its mineral-intolerant roots cannot handle, and give it bright light with the high humidity its dewy traps need to function.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 1-3d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 3 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

5–30 °C

Soil mix

Nutrient-poor mix of sphagnum peat and sand, no fertilizer

Propagation

Seed, leaf cuttings, or root cuttings

Fertilizing

Never fertilize; feeds by catching insects

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Freely produces tall pink flower spikes

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 1-3d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Cape Sundew yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.