Species
+

Drosera spatulata Labill.

Rosy Sundew, Spatulate-leaf sundew, spoon-leaved sundew

Climate known 64 photographs Carnivorous plant
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Drosera spatulata, the spoon-leaved sundew, is a variable, rosette-forming sundew with spoon-shaped leaves. The specific epithet is Latin for "spatula shaped," a reference to the form of the leaves. This sundew has a large range and occurs naturally throughout Southeast Asia, southern China and Japan, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, eastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Variants are often known by the localities in which they are found. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Drosera spatulata”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Drosera

Drosera, which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surfaces. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which the plants grow. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Drosera”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Droseraceae
Described by
Labill.
Native to
China Southeast, Japan, Korea +14
Wild records
1596 in range· 643 open

At a glance

Warmest month
24°C
Jan, mean day; nights 17 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1315mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Feb 151 mm (CHELSA)
Light
17–41DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a carnivorous plant by the genus Drosera, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (May to December in the northern hemisphere). Habitat rain 1315 mm a year, wettest February at 151 mm, driest September at 66 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 17 to 41 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 4.6 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Drosera kansaiensis Debbert; Drosera loureirii Hook. & Arn.; Drosera lovellae F.M.Bail.; Drosera minutula Col.; Drosera propinqua Cunn. and 11 more.

Cultivation

Grouped as a carnivorous plant by the genus Drosera, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table holds no figure for this group, which spans too much for one minimum; the cold floor is the habitat's alone, and no prose comes from the table.

Its year Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (May to December in the northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads no season: 70% of the year's rain (1012 mm of 1315 mm) takes 8 months, November to June. Mean temperature moves 8.2 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: May to December.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1315 mm a year, wettest February at 151 mm, driest September at 66 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1315 mm a year at the habitat, 1012 mm of it November to June. Wettest month February at 151 mm, driest September at 66 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 905 mm to 3463 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 17 to 41 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 17 to 41 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 9, the highest 90th-percentile month 43).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 4.6 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 4.6 °C, the absolute minimum 1.0 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 35.6 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 8.8 °C in July (across the envelope cells 1.3 °C to 24.7 °C), warmest day 24.4 °C in January (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 4.6 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 58 to 63% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 15 °C in Jul to 24 °C in Jan; mean night from 9 °C in Jul to 17 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 1315 mm of rain a year, most in Feb. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 795 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 1.0 °C and the 99th-percentile day 35.6 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°20°30°40°35.6° 99th-percentile day (undated)1.0° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 17–41RH 58–63 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 795 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C24 / 16–2824 / 16–2822 / 15–2721 / 13–2519 / 10–2516 / 8–2615 / 8–2817 / 8–2819 / 10–2721 / 12–2622 / 14–2723 / 15–28
Night °C17 / 9–2217 / 10–2216 / 9–2115 / 7–2012 / 5–2110 / 2–239 / 1–259 / 2–2511 / 4–2314 / 5–2115 / 7–2016 / 8–21
Rain mm124 / 68–316151 / 77–276132 / 68–295133 / 69–260125 / 62–313108 / 53–35579 / 45–28271 / 43–30566 / 42–32687 / 63–336110 / 76–283129 / 75–289
DLI40 / 22–4335 / 22–3831 / 24–3425 / 18–3019 / 11–3017 / 9–3118 / 11–3524 / 15–3331 / 22–3537 / 27–4039 / 25–4241 / 22–43
RH %62 / 59–6763 / 60–6762 / 60–6862 / 59–6861 / 59–6961 / 57–7059 / 56–6958 / 55–6958 / 55–6859 / 56–6860 / 58–6761 / 57–67

Each figure is the median across the 795 grid cells holding the 1485 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 2468:6625 (-33.425, 151.275). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 1.0 °C, 1st-percentile night 4.6 °C, 99th-percentile day 35.6 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 795 distinct grid cells holding the 1485 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2468:6625 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -33.50_151.250, lapse-corrected +52 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 151 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeChina Southeast, Japan, Korea, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Borneo, Malaya, Philippines, Sumatera, New Guinea, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Caroline Is.
Kew's description“perennial” · “temperate”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker-33.689, 151.22 · in the densest population, 496 records (31% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1596 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 643 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 59 km away. 119 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 111 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 1596 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Drosera spatulataDrosera spatulataDrosera spatulataDrosera spatulataDrosera spatulataDrosera spatulataDrosera spatulataDrosera spatulata

Photographs: (c) Kerri-Lee Harris, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Donald Hobern, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Lucas Christofides, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Kate McAlpine, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) John Barkla, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Drosera spatulata, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Plant growth-promoting traits of yeasts isolated from the phyllosphere and rhizosphere of Drosera spatulata Lab.
Shih‐Feng Fu, Pei-Feng Sun, Hsueh-Yu Lu, Jyuan-Yu Wei (2016) · Fungal Biology
Genomes of the Venus Flytrap and Close Relatives Unveil the Roots of Plant Carnivory
Gergő Pálfalvi, Thomas Hackl, Niklas Terhoeven, Tomoko Shibata (2020) · Current Biology
Pollinator-prey conflicts in carnivorous plants: When flower and trap properties mean life or death
Ashraf M. El‐Sayed, John A. Byers, D. M. Suckling (2016) · Scientific Reports
Multifaceted phytogenic silver nanoparticles by an insectivorous plant Drosera spatulata Labill var. bakoensis and its potential therapeutic applications
Susmila Aparna Gaddam, Venkata Subbaiah Kotakadi, Gunasekhar Kalavakunta Subramanyam, Josthna Penchalaneni (2021) · Scientific Reports
Dynamic calcium signals mediate the feeding response of the carnivorous sundew plant
Carl Procko, Ivan Radin, Charlotte Hou, Ryan A. Richardson (2022) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In Vitro Growth and Regeneration of Drosera spatulata Labill. on Various Media
Mirna Ćurković‐Perica, Jasna Berljak (1996) · HortScience
Polyploid Genome Structure of Drosera spatulata Complex (Droseraceae)
Jun‐ichi Shirakawa, Katsuya Nagano, Yoshikazu Hoshi (2012) · CYTOLOGIA
A molecular genetics of Drosera spatulata complex by using of RAPD analysis
Yoshikazu Hoshi, Junichi Shirakawa, Mio Takeo, Katsuya Nagano (2010) · Chromosome Botany
An acidophilic fungus promotes prey digestion in a carnivorous plant
Pei-Feng Sun, Min Lu, Yu‐Ching Liu, Brandon J. P. Shaw (2024) · Nature Microbiology
Effect of 3-O-acetylaleuritolic acid from in vitro-cultured Drosera spatulata on cancer cells survival and migration
Ewa Totoń, Izabela Kędziora, Aleksandra Romaniuk-Drapała, Natalia Konieczna (2020) · Pharmacological Reports

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Drosera 203 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 47 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.