Common Name: thread-leaf sundew
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Droseraceae
Native Range: Eastern North America
Zone: 7 to 8
Height: 0.25 to 1.00 feet
Spread: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Bloom Time: June to August
Bloom Description: Pink to purple
Sun: Full sun
Water: Wet
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Showy
Tolerate: Wet Soil
Culture
Best grown in consistently moist, well-draining soils in full sun. Add plenty of peat and sand to lighten overly clayey or loamy soils. Divide clumps in spring before the plants break dormancy. Can also be grown from seed. Hardy in Zones 7-8.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Drosera filiformis var. filiformis, commonly called dew-thread sundew, is a small, carnivorous, herbaceous perennial native to the Atlantic coastal plains of the United States in small, disjunct populations. It can be found growing along bodies of freshwater, in seepage bogs or fens, moist swales between dunes, and sandy, roadside depressions. Thin, narrow, upright leaves reaching up to 8" long emerge from a basal stem. The leaves are covered in red, gland-tipped hairs that exude a sticky substance to trap and break down insects. The leaves unfurl spirally. Thin flowering scapes up to 10" tall emerge from the base of the rosette in summer, bearing multiple pink to purple, 0.75" diameter flowers. Mature plants will form form offsets and clumps will slowly fill a 1' area in ideal conditions.
Genus name comes from the Greek word droseros meaning "dewy" for the gland-tipped hairs on the leaves.
The specific and infraspecific epithets filiformis mean "thin" or "threadlike", in reference to the shape of the leaves.
The common name sundew refers to the drops of mucilage that resemble morning dew, but that remain on the plant even in the heat of the day with the sun overhead.
Problems
No major pest or disease problems. Water with rain water or deionized water.
Uses
Bog gardens, pond edges, containers. Can be grown indoors, but does best when given a cool dormancy period. Only purchase this plant from reputable sources that do not collect from the wild.