Drosera binata - Marston's Dragon
Ease to Grow: Easy
Dormancy: No
Parental Native Range: Wet Bogs of eastern Australia
Zones: 8-10 (7-11)
Marston's Dragon is very much like the Staghorn Sundew, but with hooked tips, resembling the talons of Chinese dragon. It is very interesting, and huge, nearly the size of a basket ball when mature. Quite remarkable for a sundew! The dark green, very dewy, forked leaves are covered with red glands. They are multi-branched with typically 6 to 8+ tips per leaf. The leaves first emerge green, but in full sun develop a maroon color. It is a robust grower and readily spreads from its roots, filling its pot. It is a great bug catcher able to trap larger flying insects. It is a semi-tropical plant and will have a nice display year round. It can tolerate a light frost, but the leaves will wilt with new ones re-emerging once conditions improve. It prefers open, sunny, boggy conditions in peaty soils. It flowers from June to September with blossoms that are white on tall, multi-flowered red scapes. It rarely produces viable seeds in cultivation, but is easily divided from the thick, black, hairy roots, or by leaf cuttings. Marston's Dragon's large form grows well in a hanging basket or plant stand. Marston's Dragon is a cultivar cross, Drosera binata var. multifida extrema - Staghorn x binata var. dichotoma - Giant. This selection comes from cuttings, and are identical to the parent. Juvenile plants may be shipped. Forking and curved tips are expressed on mature 2+ year old plants.
Plants are shipped bare-root, wrapped in damp sphagnum moss. Photographs are representative of species, and not the specific plant shipped.
Height: 6" - 12"
Plant Type: Perennial, semi-tropical
Soil: Lower Bog Mix or General CP Mix
Light: Bright indoors, full sun to partial sun outdoors
Use: Grows well in the protected bog garden, greenhouse and indoors. It is showy in a hanging basket.
