Drosera hartmeyerorum SCHLAUER spec. nov. Caulibus ascendentibus, foliis exstipulatis linearibus acutis petiolis brevibus stylibusque 3, ad basin bipartitis, D. indica affinis sed pedunculis (scapiformibus) erectis, haud patentibus neque incurvatis-ascendentibus, pedunculis pedicellisque glabrescentibus et praecipue emergentiis capitatis moriformibus in regione basali adaxiali foliorum differt.

Figure 1: Tentacles (A) and emergences (B) at the leaf base of D. hartmeyerorum.
Drawing after the type specimen.

in flower, more or less sharply inflexed distally (just below the calyx) in fruit, glandular puberulent only in distal portion (distal 3 mm). Sepals 5, ca. 2.5 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide, essentially free, broadly lanceolate, externally glandular puberulent, margins entire. Petals 5, ca. 5 mm long, ca. 3 mm wide, obovate-cuneate (sometimes apiculate), free, pink, margin basally entire, apically crenate. Stamens 5, alternating with petals, filaments 1-2 mm long, connectives broad but not conspicuously dilated in apical portions, anthers ca. 0.5 mm long, thecae almost parallel, yellow. Pollen yellow. Ovary with 3 locules, globular, styles 3, basally bipartite, filiform, incurved, ca. 3 mm long, white, apical stigmatic portion minutely papillose, not dilated, acute. Fruit a trivalvate capsule, included in withered remains of petals and sepals, globular, ca. 2.5 mm in diameter. Seeds minute (ca. 0.2 x 0.3 mm), ellipsoid, testa foveolate-reticulate (not papillose), black. Color illustrations are provided in the accompanying article (Hartmeyer & Hartmeyer, 2001).

                                       

Distribution, Habitat, Phenology

D. hartmeyerorum is hitherto only known from the type locality. Similar plants have been depicted in the literature (e.g. by Mann, 1997) but the distinctive yellow emergences at the leaf base are not discernible on this illustration. The species may be more widespread, and an examination of herbarium material previously identified as D. indica may reveal a more accurate picture of the actual distribution of D. hartmeyerorum. The material investigated thus far (from Africa, Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, and Australia) by the author did not reveal additional localities.

D. hartmeyerorum grows in wet Pandanus savannas in lateritic sands (i.e. an iron-rich, tropical sand substrate) marked by high humidity (but usually not submerged in water) and high temperatures throughout the year. The plants are supposedly annual in situ (like D. indica) but their ability to survive into a second growth period has not been investigated in the field.