Stem-forming sundews

I noticed something very exciting today – my Drosera cistiflora is forming a stem!

Reach for the stars little guy.

It even looks like it's cheering, hahahah. I probably won't get flowers this year, but I'm very happy with this plant. It's become one of my favorites.

D. cistiflora isn't the only stem-forming South African sundew. The most well-known is probably Drosera madagascariensis, which develops a scrambling habit very quickly.

It's a jungle in here.

In cultivation lots of people will chop them back and take stem cuttings. I haven't done that since I have neither the time nor the space and well, here we are.

Our old friend Drosera capensis is also a stem-forming plant, though it stems out much more slowly than D. madagascariensis.

I'd need to do some trimming to see the stem.

This is a pretty neat plant.

The first photo is my original D. capensis, which has a pretty respectable stem, but it's hidden by a clump of dead leaves and offsets. The lower photo, my D. capensis "broad leaf" is showing its stem a bit better.

Drosera affinis is sort of intermediate between D. madagascariensis and D. capensis in how quickly it forms a stem.

I have high hopes for that flower stalk.

The very similar Drosera nidiformis is much the same, though mine has yet to start stemming out yet. Edit: As it turns out D. nidiformis does not in fact form a stem. I mis-remembered while making this post. Looks pretty good in any case.

These should probably be in a larger pot.

South African sundews are very cool. It's the first region that interested me, and it's one of least-studied. Fernando Rivadavia says that that's because we don't have a carnivorous plant expert in-country right now. If anyone in South African can read these words, go forth and study some plants.