Drosera ascendens (TRUE SPECIES)

First described in 1826, then effectively lost to science for nearly two centuries. Until its rediscovery in 2010, virtually every plant in European collections labelled as D. ascendens turned out to be misidentified D. latifolia or D. tomentosa. This is the true species, verified against the official botanical description.

D. ascendens is a narrow endemic of the Diamantina Plateau in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where it grows on acidic sandy soils near seasonal springs and streams in campo rupestre vegetation, at 730-1300 m elevation. It can be found within the borders of the Sempre Vivas National Park.

A member of the D. villosa complex and most closely related to D. graomogolensis. Plants form rosettes of semi-erect, reddish leaves covered in red glandular hairs. It is unique in the complex for its strongly ascending flower scapes, which is also what the name refers to: from Latin ascendans, to go up.