Roridula gorgonias
Roridula gorgonias Planch.
Roridula gorgonias is an evergreen shrub in the Roridulaceae family, native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It features awl-shaped leaves with gland-tipped tentacles that secrete a sticky resin, capturing airborne particles. The plant produces 5-merous flowers with pinkish purple or white petals between July and October. It is not carnivorous but relies on the bug Pameridea roridulae to consume trapped insects, with the plant absorbing nutrients from the bug's waste. Common names include Gorgons dewstick and vliebos.
Description
Roridula gorgonias, described by Planch. in 1848, is a shrub reaching up to 1 m tall. Its leaves are crowded at branch tips and covered in resin-secreting tentacles. The plant's inflorescences bear up to twelve flowers on short stalks, each with a bract at the base. Though it captures insects, it does not digest them; instead, the bug Pameridea roridulae feeds on them, and the plant absorbs nutrients from the bug's excrement. This relationship classifies it as protocarnivorous. The species is endemic to the southwest of the Western Cape province. It is known in English as fly bush or fly catcher bush, and in Afrikaans as vliebos or vlieëbossie.
Distribution
Cape Provinces
Synonyms
Roridula crinita
