Drosera gibsonii is a stem-forming pygmy sundew of Western Australia’s Stirling Range. Its compact crown can resemble several other pygmies, so flowers and their stalks matter for identification. Its restricted distribution also makes the distinction between a cultivated collection and a secure wild population especially important.
Botanical identity
Phill Mann described the species in 2007, naming it for sundew researcher Robert Gibson. The original description records a semi-erect rosette around 1.25 cm across, a stem reaching 4 cm, narrow elliptical leaf blades, and pink to mauve flowers on a short, glandular scape. Gemmae provide vegetative reproduction. Original description
Mann compared it particularly with D. silvicola. His key uses combinations of flower-stalk length, flower number, pollen colour and stigma shape: D. gibsonii has yellow pollen and club-shaped stigmas, while the compared D. silvicola material has white pollen and pointed stigmas. Original comparative key
Use the combination rather than a single measurement. A small or young plant need not display the maximum dimensions in a published description, and photographs can conceal the structures needed for a confident determination.
Habitat and observations
Boaz Ng records plants on Stirling Range slopes and intervening terrain with lateritic or granitic material. His close photographs show the short glandular covering of the flower stalk, contrasting with the long woolly hairs seen in some other raised pygmy sundews. Field profile
The original description reported a very limited known distribution and withheld the precise locality. That approach remains appropriate for this encyclopedia: regional habitat information helps explain the plant without turning the account into a collecting guide.
Conservation evidence needs dates
A 2020 research synthesis reports substantial losses in monitored populations following the December 2019 Stirling Range fire, with only some populations escaping it. A later Commonwealth consultation document proposed Critically Endangered listing and described restricted range and continuing decline. A consultation proposal should not be presented as proof of the final legal listing. Research synthesis, Commonwealth consultation document
These records explain why an older Priority Two label is an incomplete conservation summary. The threats concern the surviving populations and their habitat, not merely whether propagated plants can be obtained by collectors.
Cultivation boundaries
Detailed, accession-specific performance data are limited in the sources used here. The general pygmy-sundew chapters provide the starting framework for water quality, low-nutrient media, seasonal observation and gemma handling. They do not establish an exact temperature optimum, mandatory dry period or guaranteed propagation yield for D. gibsonii.
Retain the successful routine supplied with a documented cultivated plant. Keep records of the medium, pot depth, light, watering and emergence of gemmae before changing several factors together. Where available, establish a second pot from cultivated propagules before experimenting with seasonal treatment.
Preserving identity during propagation
Gemma-derived plants should retain the parent’s accession identity. Record separate sources as separate accessions, even when all are confidently the same species. A bench of copies from one parent is not equivalent to the genetic diversity represented by several wild populations.
A useful record includes a side view of the mature crown, close views of the scape and an open flower. The combination allows a later reviewer to check the determination and connects the beauty of the cultivated plant to the evidence behind its name.
Nano Nursery Drosera Encyclopedia — species profile. Related core chapters: 16, 17 and 29. Reviewed 23 September 2026. Cultivation guidance concerns established plants.
