The term "carnivorous plant" was first used in 
1760, in reference to the Venus Flytrap, a plant 
which Charles Darwin, in his "Insectivorous Plants" 
(published in 1875), considered the most 
wonderful plant in the world and certainly it has 
fascinated children and adults for many years 
since then. There are at least 500 different species 
of carnivorous plants belonging to about 20 
genera in a variety of habitats all over the world 
(Camilleri 1998) and because of wider exploration 
many more species are being discovered. The 
term is colloquial and many of the species are not 
related although they do all have in common the 
ability to trap and digest animal prey. 
Drosera binata. Photo: Genevieve Gates. 
An abundance of water is essential for all 
carnivorous plants and they tend to grow in boggy 
habitats with plenty of water but with 
depauperate soils that are nutrient deficient. By 
devouring animals (the size of the trap is no doubt 
the delimiter of the prey size) these plants can 
supplement their diet and flourish in a hostile 
environment. 
Drosera arcturi, large leaved form. 
Photo: Genevieve Gates. 
Tasmania has only two genera of carnivorous 
plants, Drosera and Utricularia, containing nine 
and eight species respectively (Clayton 2002), but 
bear in mind that molecular techniques may 
change the species concept of some of these 
species. They are not the large, breathtakingly 
beautiful plants of the tropical ecosystems but 
rather simple and delicate with exquisite small 
flowers but are equally as fascinating to 
enthusiasts from all over the world. 
Drosera spatulata. Photo: Michael Driessen. 
Our first stop was at Frodshams Pass at the turn¬ 
off to the Scotts Peak Dam Rd. Like a bunch of 
lemmings behind Darren and Miguel we leaped 
out of the cars and over the bank into the swampy 
ditch adjusting our eyes to see floating in a small 
stream the minute, green leaves of Utricularia 
dichotoma (aka Fairies Aprons) with intriguing 
bladder traps and on the banks, the jewel-like 
glowing red traps, lined with sticky hairs, of 
Drosera auriculata. At this site, Tim Rudman from 
Parks and Wildlife informed us about the water¬ 
borne fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi which 
causes die-back in plants. The area was obviously 
affected by the fungus because the Sprengelia 
incarnata was looking very dried up and sick. This 
was a reminder that we had to clean our boots 
after walking around infected patches. 
Further down the road, Gelignite Creek yielded 
several species including the small leaf form of D. 
arcturi as well as D. binata (looks like a little devil's 
pitchfork to me) as well as more Utricularia. 
We pushed onwards to Condominium Creek for 
lunch and then back along the road to the final 
stop at the foot of Celtic Hill to find some "spats". 
Que? Oh, Drosera spatulata and sure enough our 
intrepid leader found us some very good 
specimens halfway up the face of Mt Anne (well, 
Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club BULLETIN 345 January 2012 p5 
