{{Short description|Species of carnivorous plant}} {{Speciesbox | image = Drosera binata.jpg | image2 = Drosera binata39841374413 08cb2d1a90 o.jpg | genus = Drosera | parent = Drosera sect. Phycopsis | display_parents = 2 | parent_authority = Planch. | species = binata | authority = Labill.<ref name=apni>{{APNI2|id=97024|name=''Drosera binata''}}</ref><ref name=labill>Labillardiere, J.J.H. de (1805) Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen 1(9-10): 78, t. 105</ref> | synonyms = *''Dismophyla binata'' <small>(Labill.) Raf.</small> *''Drosera cunninghamii'' <small>Walp.</small> *''Drosera dichotoma'' <small>Banks & Sol. ''ex'' Sm.</small> *''Drosera flagellifera'' <small>Colenso</small> *''Drosera pedata'' <small>Pers.</small> |range_map = Drosera_binataDistMap12.png |range_map_caption = Occurrence data from AVH }}
'''''Drosera binata''''', commonly known as the '''forked sundew''' or '''fork-leaved sundew'''. It is a large, perennial sundew native to south-eastern Australia and New Zealand. The specific epithet is Latin for "having pairs", a reference to the leaves, which are dichotomously (sometimes twice-dichotomously) divided or forked.<ref name="Salmon">Salmon, B. 2001. ''Carnivorous Plants of New Zealand''. Ecosphere Publications.</ref> These leaves are up to {{cvt|60|cm}} long.<ref>{{cite book | last1= Turner | first1= R.J. Jr. | last2= Wasson | first2= Ernie | date= 1999 | title= Botanica | location= not given | publisher= Barnes & Noble | page= 315 | isbn= 0760716420 }}</ref>
Like all sundews, it is a carnivorous plant. It is unique among sundews in having narrow, branching leaves. It is the only species in the ''Drosera'' section '''''Phycopsis'''''.
== Distribution and habitat == ''D. binata'' occurs naturally in Australia, primarily in coastal areas from Fraser Island in Queensland, southwards down through New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania and the south-east corner of South Australia. The range of this species extends to New Zealand where it is common below an elevation of 1,000 metres, being found in both the North and South Islands, Stewart Island / Rakiura and farther afield on the Chathams.<ref name="Salmon" /> Some populations go dormant in the winter, while others are truly tropical.
==Taxonomy and botanical history== Plants similar to the type specimen, commonly referred to as the "T-form", were first collected in 1792 by the French exploration of Australia's southern coast led by Bruni d'Entrecasteaux. The naturalist on board that expedition, Jacques Labillardière, first described ''D. binata'' in his 1804 publication on the flora of Australia, ''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen''. The T-form, so named for its single leaf bifurcation spreading into a T-shape, is a robust plant from temperate zones that can grow up to {{convert|30|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} and has green foliage that becomes redder with age. This form has been described as being genetically stable.<ref name="Gilbert 1984">Gilbert, I. 1984. [http://carnivorousplants.org/cpn/articles/CPNv13n3p74_76.pdf ''Drosera binata''.] ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'', 13(3): 74-76.</ref><ref name="Rice 2010">Rice, B. 2010. [http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq5270.html Any other ''Drosera'' species.] The Carnivorous Plant FAQ v. 11.5. Retrieved 25 January 2010.</ref>
The second observed form, commonly referred to as var. ''dichotoma'', is similar to the T-form, but the foliage is yellower and the leaf typically divides into four terminal leaf points, though it has been known to produce as many as eight leaf points.<ref name="Gilbert 1984" /><ref name="Rice 2010" /> It was first validly described in an 1819 volume of ''Rees's Cyclopædia'' by James Edward Smith as ''D. dichotoma'', based on the description by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander. This name, however, has since been reduced to synonymy with ''D. binata''.<ref name="Schlauer">Schlauer, J. 2010. [http://www.omnisterra.com/bot/cp_home.cgi World Carnivorous Plant List - Nomenclatural Synopsis of Carnivorous Phanerogamous Plants] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918161537/http://www.omnisterra.com/bot/cp_home.cgi |date=2016-09-18 }}. Retrieved 25 January 2010.</ref><ref name="IPNI">{{IPNI|id=321826-1|accessdate=25 January 2010}}</ref> This morphological form was first published as "var. ''dichotoma''" by J. A. Mazrimas in a 1976 volume of the ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'', but the publication of that name was invalid under the rules of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Even though the name is not valid, it is still widely used in cultivation to refer to this ''D. binata'' form.<ref name="Gilbert 1984" /><ref name="Schlauer" /><ref name="Mazrimas 1976">Mazrimas, J. A. 1976. [http://carnivorousplants.org/cpn/articles/CPNv05n1p15.pdf The ''Drosera binata'' complex.] ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'', 5(1): 15.</ref> This was one of many plants used by Charles Darwin in his investigation of carnivorous plants for his 1875 book ''Insectivorous Plants''.<ref name="Gilbert 1984" /><ref name="Darwin">Darwin, C. 1875. [http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=side&itemID=F1217&pageseq=297 ''Insectivorous Plants''.] London: John Murray. pp. 281-282.</ref>
A third described form, often called ''D. binata'' f. ''multifida'', has even more leaf divisions, bifurcating several times to produce anywhere from eight to 16 or even 30 terminal leaf points.<ref name="Gilbert 1984" /><ref name="Rice 2010" /> This, too, was published by J. A. Mazrimas in the same 1976 volume of the ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' as var. ''multifida'', referring to the description of a 27-point ''D. binata'' found by George Ashley and published in a 1975 volume of the ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter''.<ref name="Mazrimas 1976" /><ref name="Ashley 1975">Ashley, G. 1975. [http://carnivorousplants.org/cpn/articles/CPNv04n3p48.pdf The search for the 27 point ''Drosera binata''.] ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'', 4(3): 48.</ref> Neither of these names were validly published, but again they remain in use among carnivorous plant growers. A final form, known for producing up to 40 terminal leaf points, is frequently titled f. ''extrema'', another name that has never been validly published but remains in use.<ref name="Gilbert 1984" />This represents five-fold dichotomy, with some points undergoing the beginnings of a sixth. The variety ''D.b.'' f. ''extrema'' is native to Stradbroke Island off the coast of Brisbane, Queensland.<ref>{{cite book | last=Slack | first= Adrian | date= 1980 | title= Carnivorous Plants | location= Cambridge, Massachusetts | publisher= Massachusetts Institute of Technology | pages= 152–153 | isbn= 0-262-19186-5 }}</ref>
Two cultivars of ''D. binata'' have been named. ''Drosera'' 'Giant' is a particularly large form of the "var. ''dichotoma''" type and was published by Peter D'Amato in 1998 and registered in 1999. The other, ''Drosera'' 'Marston Dragon', was published by Adrian Slack in 1986 and registered in 2001.<ref name="Schlauer" />
==See also== *List of ''Drosera'' species *Taxonomy of ''Drosera''
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20081014120148/http://www.nzcps.co.nz/NZCPSDroserabinata.html NZ Carnivorous plants society website page about this species] * [https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=Drosera+binata#tab_mapView ''Drosera binata'' Occurrence data] from AVH
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Category:Carnivorous plants of New Zealand Category:Carnivorous plants of Australia Category:Flora of the Chatham Islands Category:Flora of New South Wales Category:Flora of Queensland Category:Flora of South Australia Category:Flora of Tasmania Category:Flora of Victoria (state) binata Category:Caryophyllales of Australia Category:Plants described in 1804