Drosera burmannii is found in northern and eastern Australia, India, China, Japan, and south east Asia. There are various forms that range in size from less than 1 cm to about 2 cm across and may be golden green, dark green, green with red tentacles or all red. The scapes (flower stalks) tend to be greater than 10 cm long and bend at the base. The species is described as having white flowers but some varieties have pink flowers.

Drosera sessilifolia is found in Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela and possibly N Argentina, Paraguay, E Bolivia, E Peru, SE Colombia, French Guiana and Surinam. The plants from seeds distributed by the Seed Bank tend to be 1 to 1.5 cm across, are not as flat in aspect as D. burmannii, and tend to be golden green with red tentacles. The scapes tend to be 5 to 8 cm long, do not curve at the base, and have pink flowers.

Please compare photos of D. burmannii and D. sessilifolia in the wild at the Carnivorous Plant Photo Finder (photos of plants in captivity may not be correctly identified). You will note the tremendous variability of these plants in the wild. Some of that variation may not show in plants grown in captivity. However it appears in general D. sessilifolia has wider and shorter petioles with rounder laminas than D. burmannii. Because some D. burmannii varieties have pink flowers you can not use flower color as a diagnostic character to distinguish the species.

These small plants makes an excellent addition to CP collection. In fact it makes a wonderful weed if you aren't careful.

Seeds distributed by the Seed Bank as Drosera sessilifolia may actually have been Drosera burmannii or hybrids between D. burmannii and D. sessilifolia. The seed available since 2009 are correct.

Drosera burmannii and D. sessilifolia are annuals which means under normal circumstances within one growing season they will grow quickly, bloom, set seed and die. In nature Drosera burmannii seeds sprout with the onset of the summer rainy season. It requires very warm and bright conditions to do well. The plants bloom and then die in the fall as the ground dries out.

You can maintain Drosera burmannii a number of years if you remove the flower stalks before the flowers open, keep the plants in their ideal circumstances of heat and light, and repot them after the mat of old leaves gets thick enough to interfere with new roots. If you allow them to bloom even once, the plants will be reduced in size substantially and may have difficulty recovering unless carefully trimmed of old leaves and transplanted. When you allow the plants to bloom in order to get seed for more plants, it is best to keep them under drier conditions so the seed heads don't get moldy.

Drosera burmannii and D. sessilifolia plants can be started from seed and grown like subtropical Drosera. A temperature between 20°C to 25°C (70°F to 80°F) works best for germination of D. sessilifolia; D.burmannii might prefer a few degrees warmer depending of source location. Please see Sowing Seeds Step-by-Step for more details on starting seeds and the growing guide Growing Subtropical Drosera for more information on growing them. Adult plants are best managed if grown in small pots in trays of water.

Annual Drosera species are generally not propagated by root or leaf cuttings. When you grow them you should always be thinking about getting enough seeds to make sure you will have the plants again next year.

-- John Brittnacher

For more information please see:

Rivadavia, Fernando (1996) Drosera sessilifolia. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 25(1):26-29 ( )

Gibson, Robert (1999) Carnivorous Plants of New South Wales, Australia. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 28(2):59-69