Warwick Bushland has five species of carnivorous plants in the sundew family, but only three are found on this trail. These survive over summer as bulbs and emerge in the autumn or winter. Red-ink sundew (Drosera erythrorhiza) emerges in autumn and has large groups of prostrate leaf rosettes. It flowers in autumn before leaves emerge, especially after fire. and has wide rosettes of green or red-coloured leaves covered in sticky hairs. These hairs trap small invertebrates which are digested to provide nutrients, as shown below. A pygmy sundew (Drosera micrantha) also has rosettes of leaves but is very hard to spot since they are only about 1 cm wide with tiny white flowers on a curved stalk. Climbing sundews have showy heads of flowers on top of a tall, thin, climbing stem bearing sticky leaves that act as tendrils. The commonest climbing species Pale Rainbow (Drosera pallida) has white flowers in winter and often climbs through shrubs. You may also see Pink Rainbow (Drosera drummondii) which flowers in spring. They are called rainbows because of the way their glandular hairs refract light, especially early or late in the day.