Roridula dentata

Northern Dewstick

Roridula dentata, the Northern Dewstick, is a gigantic carnivorous plant often seen in the sandstone Koue Bokkeveld, Groot Winterhoek, and Cederberg mountain ranges that form the northern part of the Cape floristic region. An impressive plant, R. dentata forms tall spindly bushes 1-1,5m in height, lined with rosettes of dentate, carnivorous leaves. It is common for mature plants to have dense bushes of rosettes near the ground as well. 

Unlike sundews the mucilage of Roridula is resinous and non-digestive, instead relying on symbiotic Pameridea assassin bugs to consume prey and excrete nutrients onto the plant. Pameridea marlothii is exclusively found on R. dentata and often shares the space with Marloth’s Crab Spider, Synema marlothii) which spins together dead leaves to make nests on the plant. 

This species grows in seasonally damp sand flats and slopes in the often brutal mountain conditions with scorchingly hot and dry summers, followed by cold, wet, and windy winters. Fires are common every 10-20 years, clearing the habitat and allowing seeds an opening to sprout. Recruitment seems to still happen without fire in clearings.