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Byblidaceae
Rainbow Plant Flower
Byblis gigantea
Deceptive beauty and sparkling traps.
- Family
- Byblidaceae
- Genus
- Byblis
- Native to
- Western Australia
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer
- Type
- carnivorous perennial
- Height
- 30–70 cm
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- sandy, nutrient-poor, acidic
- Water
- medium; tolerates seasonal wetness
- Hardiness
- 10–11
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- The 'rainbow' name comes from sunlight refracting through the sticky mucilage droplets on its leaves.
- Though it looks like a sundew, Byblis is unrelated — a stunning example of convergent evolution.
- The plant does not produce digestive enzymes itself; symbiotic bugs help break down trapped insects.
- Aboriginal Australians used the sticky leaves as natural flypaper inside their shelters.
- Byblis gigantea was thought extinct until rediscovered in the 1990s in a few remaining swamps near Perth.
Color meanings
Purple
glistening allure and hidden danger