Drosera section Lasiocephala (the “D. petiolaris complex”) remains very poorly studied in-situ, largely as a result of the extreme climatic conditions and remote nature of Northern Australia, to which the vast majority of species in this group are endemic. Historically, this has resulted in the widespread misconception that Drosera species diversity in Northern Australia is relatively poor in comparison to that of Southwestern Western Australia.

However, while still in the early stages of formal documentation and description, the northerly, warm-growing D. petiolaris and D. indica groups likely comprise a number of species comparable to that of the more well-documented pygmy and wintergrowing tuberous Drosera sections of Southwestern WA.

Noah Juve will discuss the ecology and taxonomy of most described species (as well as many undescribed ones) of Drosera sections Lasiocephala and Arachnopus native to the Top End and Kimberley regions in Australia, documented during his weeks of recent fieldwork in the Australian Northern Territory and state of Western Australia. Sympatric Utricularia, Stylidium, and Byblis will also be covered briefly in this presentation.

Noah is an amateur taxonomist currently studying the Drosera of remote Northern Australia with an additional interest in Sarracenia of the Southeastern United States. He also operates Insectsinside Nursery on social media as a means to provide funding for plant research trips and to maintain his diverse ex-situ collection of Drosera and Sarracenia. A small selection of horticulturally-produced petiolaris complex Drosera specimens and seeds from Noah’s collection will be available for purchase once the presentation has concluded.

You can follow Noah’s adventures on instagram at @insectsoutside and @insectsinside_nursery and on facebook at Insectsoutside