Which carnivorous plant is known as the 'King Sundew'?

The carnivorous plant known as the “King Sundew” is Drosera regia.

Drosera regia is one of the largest and most distinctive sundews. Its long, narrow leaves can reach about 70 centimetres and are covered with stalked glands that produce sticky mucilage. When an insect lands on a leaf, the tentacles and sometimes the leaf itself bend inward, helping hold and digest the prey.

The species is endemic to a very small area in South Africa’s Western Cape, where it grows in permanently damp, peaty, quartzite soils among fynbos vegetation. Botanist Edith Layard Stephens formally described it in 1926. The epithet regia means “royal,” reflecting the plant’s striking appearance and unusual size.

It is easy to confuse the King Sundew with more familiar species such as Drosera capensis, the Cape sundew. Both are South African carnivorous plants, but D. regia is distinguished by its exceptionally long leaves, woody rhizome, and highly restricted wild distribution.