Roridula

Roridula
Roridula gorgonias
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Roridulaceae Engl. & Gilg (1924) nom.cons.
Genus:	Roridula L. (1764)
Species
Roridula dentata Roridula gorgonias
File:Roridula distribution.svg
Roridula distribution

Roridula (/rɒˈrɪdjʊlə/; from Latin roridus "dewy") is a South African genus of plants restricted to the Cape Provinces. While having many of the adaptations of a carnivorous plant, such as the possession of insect-trapping sticky hairs, does not directly digest the animals it traps. Instead, it has a mutualistic relationship with Pameridea roridulae, a species of capsid bug, which lives on the plant and feeds on the trapped insects. The plant obtains nutrients from the droppings of this symbiotic insect. Whether this plant is regarded as carnivorous or protocarnivorous is essentially a matter of semantics. The genus contains just two species, Roridula gorgonias Planch. and Roridula dentata L., and is the only genus in the family Roridulaceae.

A pair of fossilised leaves from Eocene Baltic amber have been attributed to the Roridulaceae. The amber is from sediments dated to 35–47 million years ago. Definite fossils of carnivorous plant traps have never previously been found. Their location in the Baltic suggests that the genus Roridula, although now restricted to South Africa, was much more widespread in the past.

Misassigned taxa

• Roridula arabica Roem. & Schult. (1818) [=Cleome droserifolia]
• Roridula droserifolia (Delile) Forsk. (1775) [=Cleome droserifolia]
• Roridula tetrandra Vitm. (1790) [=Cleome droserifolia]

External links

• Roridulaceae in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants.