Drosera dichrosepala is a small stem-forming pygmy sundew, but its name has had a larger and more confusing life in cultivation. Some plants long exchanged under this label belong to D. verrucata. Identifying the actual plant is therefore the first step towards using its history and growing notes correctly.
The accepted name
Kew accepts Drosera dichrosepala Turcz. and lists D. scorpioides var. brevipes as a synonym. It separately accepts D. verrucata. Those are distinct taxonomic records; an old misidentification is not the same thing as two accepted names being interchangeable synonyms. Kew record
Keep an original nursery label alongside any corrected determination. A record such as “received as…” preserves the route by which the material entered cultivation without continuing to present an uncertain identity as settled.
Features to examine
Boaz Ng describes a small raised rosette, elongated leaf blades and a largely smooth flowering stalk with sparse glands. The white or pink flowers have relatively broad, rounded petals, and the sepals may show both red and green. His field account places the species in lateritic ground in an inland part of south-western Western Australia, with spring flowering and a summer rest. Field description
His comparison with D. verrucata highlights the broader petals of true D. dichrosepala. The overall rosette alone can be misleading. Identification comparison
Take photographs of several open flowers where possible, including the petal outline, flower centre and scape. A single partly open flower or a very young plant may not show the distinguishing features clearly enough.
What a name correction changes
If a plant is redetermined, carry that correction through its vegetative descendants. Retain the original accession number and note who made the determination, when, and what evidence was used. Do not merge separate source lines merely because both now have the same corrected species name.
This is also important when reading older cultivation accounts. A report headed D. dichrosepala may concern the plant then circulating under that name; it should not automatically be used as a controlled record for the modern, narrower identification.
Cultivation and propagation boundaries
The habitat account supports attention to drainage and seasonal changes, but it does not supply a proven potting formula or exact irrigation threshold. Use the general pygmy-sundew guidance as a starting framework, retain the accession’s successful routine and record its actual response. Do not force a sharp dry period solely to match a field description.
When propagating documented cultivated stock, keep gemma-derived offspring with the parent accession. Record the date and method, and distinguish vegetative copies from any seed-grown plants. Identity and propagation history should travel together when plants are exchanged.
Conservation records require careful interpretation
Kew’s general-information page displays an Endangered IUCN category alongside a separate modelled extinction-risk prediction. These represent different kinds of evidence, so the model prediction should not be used to cancel the reported assessment. An assessment also needs its own date and taxonomic scope before being quoted as a current conservation summary. Kew’s attributed conservation records
For the grower, the immediate contribution is straightforward: maintain correctly identified propagated material and preserve the evidence attached to it. A careful label correction can improve every subsequent generation of a collection.
Nano Nursery Drosera Encyclopedia — species profile. Related core chapters: 16, 17 and 29. Reviewed 23 September 2026. Cultivation guidance concerns established plants.
