Species library › Drosera › Drosera occidentalis
Carnivorous Well documented

Drosera occidentalis

Drosera occidentalis is one of the smallest pygmy sundews: an open rosette about 1.5 cm across with circular leaf blades only about 1 mm wide. Its marginal tentacles can catapult small prey such as springtails into the centre of the leaf. It grows on the edges of seasonal swamps and in damp peaty-sand depressions in far south-west Western Australia. It is wet in the mild, rainy winter and sets gemmae in late spring, before the summer drought.

At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Swamp margins, damp depressions and seasonally wet sedgeland on grey peaty sand. A recent herbarium label from near Cape Le Grand reads 'seasonal swamp, grey, peaty sand. Sedgeland.' The plants sit among low sedges and get strong but slightly broken light.

A lowland species. The few GBIF records with an elevation are at about 15–90 m, with one at 350 m.

Western Australia

🔒 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.