The scientific name of the carnivorous plant genus commonly called the rainbow plant is Byblis.
Byblis is a genus native to Australia and New Guinea and the only genus in the family Byblidaceae. Its leaves are lined with numerous sticky glands. In bright sunlight, droplets of mucilage sparkle in rainbow-like colours, inspiring the common name “rainbow plants.”
English botanist Richard Anthony Salisbury described the first species in the genus in 1808. The name Byblis comes from Greek mythology: the character Byblis was transformed into a spring of tears, an image associated with the glistening droplets on the plant’s leaves.
Byblis can resemble sundews, especially members of Drosera, but the plants are not close relatives in modern classifications. Their flowers provide an important distinction: Byblis flowers have five curved stamens positioned to one side of the pistil. The genus currently includes eight recognised species, many of which grow in seasonally wet sandy habitats.