I am super excited: I recorded our first spoonleaf phenology on EwA Pheno Lite! I now know a few patches of these remarkable plants in the Outer Cape, and I was especially looking to see whether they were flowering. The one patch I visited so far was not.
Even without flowers, spoonleaf sundew is already doing something remarkable. This is a small wetland plant with leaves that act like tiny sticky traps. In the photo, you can see one of those traps in action: a tiny insect is caught right on the leaf, held fast by the plant’s glistening (and sticky) glands. After capture, the leaf slowly curls inward, helping the plant digest insects and get nutrients from the poor, sandy soils where it grows.Phenologically, this is the season when flowering is expected to begin or soon follow. In the Outer Cape, that likely means a close watch now for emerging scapes and the first blooms as summer advances. These plants are fragile, so I am always careful where I step and mindful to avoid wetland edges. I am so excited to keep following these plants from here on out.
📷 Spoonleaf Sundew · Droséra Intermédiaire (Drosera intermedia) | © Claire O'Neill, please credit accordingly.
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