Drosera microphylla

Drosera microphylla, the golden rainbow, is an erect perennial tuberous species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera. It is endemic to Western Australia and grows on granite outcrops of [Western Australia|granite outcrops] or in sandy or laterite soils. D. microphylla produces small, circular, peltate carnivorous leaves along erect stems that can be high. It blooms from June to September, displaying its large golden sepals and smaller, variably-coloured petals. In populations near Perth, the petals are red, whereas petal colour near Albany tends to be orange. Some plants east of Esperance have white petals.

Botanical history

D. microphylla was first described and named by Stephan Endlicher in 1837. In 1848, Jules [Émile Planchon] described the new species D. calycina, which was later reduced to synonymy with D. microphylla. George Bentham described the new variety D. calycina var. minor in 1864. This taxon was also reduced to a synonym of D. microphylla. Lastly, in his 1906 taxonomic monograph of the family Droseraceae, Ludwig Diels also described a new variety, D. microphylla var. macropetala, which was also later reduced to a synonym.