If you look closely at muddy patches between rocks beside the lakes in Long Lake Provincial Park, you may spot sundew plants. These are very small and inconspicuous, but they are interesting because they are described as “carnivorous” (which means meat-eating). At first, the idea of a tiny plant eating meat might seem a bit strange, but the “meat” in question consists of very small insects, mostly tiny flies.
Sundew plants belong to a group of plants (genus) with the name Drosera. Most of the Droseras beside the lakes in Long Lake Park are of the species Drosera intermedia, also known as the narrow-leaved sundew.
Due to their ability to capture and digest small insects, sundews are able to colonize sites that have few nutrients, particularly nitrogen-containing compounds. Small flies get caught in the sweet sticky goo at the ends of hairs on the sundew leaves and they are then slowly digested on the leaf surface by enzymes released by the plant. Drosera plants are not able to survive in most places where other plants grow because they cannot compete with larger plants.
Drosera intermedia produces flowers in Nova Scotia from late June to end of August. The flowers are white with five petals born on red stalks
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