Microworld with sundews

Photographer

Keith Horton

Category

Nature Photography - Plants and Fungi

Company

Keith Horton Photography

Submission Group

Amateur

Year

2022

Country / Region:

Australia

This is a tiny landscape from a swampy ecosystem in South-eastern Australia. The pink plants (with flower stalks developing) are Spoon-leaved sundews (Drosera spatulata). The green plant in the mid-right is a Blunt-leaf heath (Epacris obtusifolia). The yellowish moss is Campylopus bicolor. These are tiny plants and I had to get my camera almost on the ground to photograph them at this angle. (To give an idea of the scale, the green plant in the centre right is about 3 cm tall.) It's fascinating to see life on this scale, with its many details one would normally miss. The Spoon-leaved sundews are an insectivorous species. Insects land on its sticky leaves and are trapped there as the sundew slowly rolls up its leaf. Notwithstanding this somewhat gory method of feeding, they are beautiful plants, especially when their flower stalks are developing, as in this photo. Dharawal National Park, New South Wales, Australia

Credits

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