The Carnivorous Plant FAQ v. 12

Q: Carnivorous plants of Australia and New Zealand

A: On this page, I will note all the genera found in Australia, New Zealand, and the Chatham Islands. (The Chatham Islands are possessed by New Zealand, but are about 900 km to the east.)

The native carnivorous genera in this region are Aldrovanda, Byblis, Cephalotus, Drosera, Nepenthes, and of course Utricularia. Australia is a global hot spot for carnivorous plants, and has no peer if your interests are Drosera or Utricularia!

Aldrovanda
This plant occurs at several sites in New South Wales, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. Some of these sites house interesting red forms.

Byblis
Nearly the entire genus is endemic to Australia, and is restricted to Western Australia.

Cephalotus
This spectacular little pitcher plant is endemic to the southwest corner of Western Australia. It is a beauty!

Nepenthes
For a long time, only one species--N. mirabilis--was thought to occur in Australia. However, additional species are now recognized in the northern tip of Queensland, i.e., Cape York.

Now, with trepidation, let us review the two big genera in Australia and New Zealand: Drosera and Utricularia....

Drosera
Australia is a center of diversity for the genus Drosera. While it is weak on the familiar rosetted species (i.e., genus section Drosera), it excels in entire groups of sundew species of types found nowhere else.

In addition to those clean categories, several other taxa occur in this region of interest. Some that leap out at me include Drosera arcturi, Drosera binata and its relatives, Drosera burmannii, Drosera glanduligera, Drosera hamiltonii, Drosera indica and allies such as Drosera harmeyerorum, Drosera spatulata, and Drosera stenopetala. There are still others, but I'll let you learn about them.

Utricularia
Australia is also a center of diversity for this genus. Last I looked, I saw more than fifty species in this area.

A sub-topic to this page that I might as well answer, is the carnivorous plants of New Zealand. There are only two native genera present, Drosera and Utricularia.

Page citations: Clarke, C., and Kruger, R. 2005, 2006; Lowrie, A. 1987, 1989, 1999; Lowrie, A., et al. 2017a; Lowrie, A., et al. 2017b; Lowrie, A., and Conran, J.G. 1998; Rice, B.A. 2006a; Salmon, B. 2001; Schlauer, J. 2002; Taylor, P. 1989.

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Revised: 2018
©Barry Rice, 2018