Nature Notes: Meat-eating plants in flower

I, along with every other kid in the 80s, had a Venus flytrap plant. It sat on my desk, and I poked it day after day until it inevitably died. And while the flytrap is native to the United States, did you know that Australia is home to many carnivorous plants, including a species that carpets the sides of one of my favourite walks in the Illawarra?

The spoon-leaved sundew (Drosera spatulata) is currently flowering – sending up stalks of pink or white flowers. But if you look closely at the red spoon-shaped leaves, you’ll notice them glistening with hundreds of drops that look like, well, drops of dew. Instead, this is a sticky substance that ensnares and suffocates any hapless insects that land on it. These are then eventually digested by the plant.

Even though they are red in colour, they’re relatively small and hug the ground and so you can easily miss them. They tend to grow in patches and people who grow carnivorous plants consider them a bit of a weed due to the ease with which they grow and spread!

You’ll find them along the coast, in heathland, wetlands and sandstone (tip: I've found loads around Darkes Forest). They may not be as dramatic at the Venus fly trap, but they are a unique find on any bush walk.