Species library › Drosera › Drosera alba
Carnivorous Partly documented

Drosera alba

White sundew

A small, red-leaved rosette sundew with white flowers, endemic to the winter-rainfall south-west Cape of South Africa, where most records come from the Gifberg and Matzikama area near Vredendal. It grows in the cool, wet winter and becomes dormant through the hot, dry summer, so growers need to follow that cycle rather than keep it wet all year. It should not be confused with the white-flowered Drosera capensis 'Alba'.

Drosera alba
Photo: Dwergenpaartje, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Damp, open ground in fynbos in the winter-rainfall Western Cape, including plateau sites on the sandstone Gifberg and around Sewefontein. It grows in full sun while the ground is wet in winter and spring.

The records carry no elevation; the Gifberg plateau sites lie at several hundred metres.

South Africa (Western Cape)

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.