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Drosera rotundifolia

Common name: Sundew Family: Droseraceae
Author: L. Botanical references: 17, 200
Synonyms:  
Known Hazards: None known
Range: Europe, including Britain but excluding he Mediterranean, N. Asia, N. America..
Habitat: Wet and moist places in poor peaty soils, occasionally forming a floating fringe on small ponds[4, 17].
Edibility Rating (1-5): 1Medicinal Rating (1-5):3

Other Common Names:From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
Degirmi Sebnem [E], Drosera [E], Kimaheina [E], Mosen-Goke [E], Ringormgras [E], Ronde Zonnedauw [D], Ros Solis [E], Round-leaf Sundew [B], Round-leaved Sundew [FEIS,S,L,MS], Roundleaf Sundew [P], Sundew [H,E], Sundew, Round-leaved [S],
Epithets:From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
rotundifolia = round leaved
Systematics:From a USDA Plants Database
Order: Nepenthales. Sundew family
Other Range Info: From the Ethnobotany Database
Britain Canada(Kwakiutl) Europe Finland Norway Spain Turkey Us

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial growing to 0.1m by 0.08m at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone 6. It is in leaf all year, in flower from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist or wet soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond, Bog Garden.

Edible Uses

Curdling agent.

The juice of the plant is used to curdle plant milks[177, 183]. You heat the milk and the leaves together in order to make the milk curdle[7].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antibacterial Antibiotic Antispasmodic Demulcent Expectorant Homeopathy Hypoglycaemic Warts.

The sundew has a long history of herbal use, having been popular for its fortifying and aphrodisiac effects[238]. It relaxes the muscles of the respiratory tract, easing breathing and relieving wheezing and so is of great value in the treatment of various chest complaints[254]. The plant has become quite rare and so it should not be harvested from the wild[254].
The flowering plant is antibacterial, antibiotic, antispasmodic, antitussive, demulcent, expectorant and hypoglycaemic[4, 7, 9, 13, 21, 46, 165, 172, 222, 238]. The plant is used with advantage in the treatment of whooping cough, exerting a peculiar action on the respiratory organs[4]. It is also used in the treatment of incipient phthisis, chronic bronchitis and asthma[4]. Externally, it has been used to treat corns, warts and bunions[257].The plant is harvested in the summer and can be dried for later use[7]. Use with caution[21]. Internal use of this herb causes a harmless colouring of the urine[9].
An extract of the plant contains plumbagin, which is antibiotic against a wide range of pathogens[222, 238].
Because of their protein digesting enzymes, the leaf juice has been used in the treatment of warts and corns[4, 222].
The entire fresh plant, harvested when it is starting to flower, is used to make a homeopathic remedy[232]. It is used mainly in the treatment of coughs[232] and is specific for whooping cough[7].

We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.

Other Uses

Fungicide.

Substances in the plant are used to curb the growth of bacteria[13].

Cultivation details

Prefers a sandy peaty soil, succeeding in poor soils and bogs[1, 200]. Requires a sunny position[238].
An insectivorous plant, it can survive in nitrogen poor soils because it gets the nutrients it needs from insects[1, 7, 9, 200]. The upper surfaces of leaves are covered with hairs that secrete a sweet sticky substance[7].This attracts insects, which become smeared with it and unable to escape - the plant then exudes a digestive fluid that enables it to absorb most of the insect into its system[7].

Propagation

Seed - best sown thinly as soon as it is ripe into pots of a free-draining soil with some charcoal added and with a layer of finely chopped sphagnum moss on top[175]. Surface sow and keep the compost moist. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 2 months at 20° c[175]. Grow the plants on in the pots for their first growing season, making sure that the soil does not become dry.
Divide the plants in the autumn, grow them on in the greenhouse for the winter and plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

References for drosera rotundifolia (a possible synonym).

References for the family Droseraceae.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.

[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest.
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.

[175] Bird. R. (Editor) Focus on Plants. Volume 5. (formerly 'Growing from seed') Thompson and Morgan. 1991
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Corydalis spp.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[232] Castro. M. The Complete Homeopathy Handbook. Macmillan. London. 1990 ISBN 0-333-55581-3
A concise beginner's guide to the subject. Very readable.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

Plant Rennet

Rich (pfaf@scs.leeds.ac.uk) Sat Apr 15 16:59:27 2000

According to VegSoc, in the past, fig leaves, melon, wild thistle and safflower have all supplied plant rennets for cheese making.

agsieve also has information about another plant source, using the juice from the plant as a coagulant.

Cross references: Plants: Asclepias eriocarpa, Carduus nutans, Carthamnus tinctorius, Cirsium arvense, Cirsium vulgare, Cynara cardunculus, Cynara scolymus, Ficus carica, Galega officinalis, Galium verum, Fumaria officinalis, Oxalis acetosella, Pinguicula vulgaris, Pyrularia edulis , Rhus chinensis, Rumex acetosa, Urtica dioica, Withania somnifera.

Drosera rotundifolia

Alexandra Steiner (alisteiner@hotmail.com) Sat Jun 24 14:19:32 2000

I missed some very important info in your database concerning drosera rotundifolia - to cultivate round-leafed sundew it needs some stratification..!

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