It has a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 34, which is unusual for the genus Drosera and closer to the diploid chromosome number of the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), another member of the Droseraceae. Variable chromosome counts for Dionaea from multiple studies include 2n = 30, 32, and 33. Of the Drosera species with known chromosome counts, most are a multiple of x = 10. Based on an extensive review of karyotype studies, the botanist Fernando Rivadavia suggested that the base chromosome number for the genus could be 2n = 20, a number that many Drosera species share including the widespread D. rotundifolia. Exceptions to this base number include the Australian, New Zealand and Southeast Asian Drosera, which have chromosome numbers ranging from 2n = 6 to 64. Distribution and habitat Drosera regia is endemic to South Africa and has only ever been found at two sites at altitudes of in the Bainskloof Range near Wellington, Western Cape in South Africa. Despite extensive exploration, D. regia has not been found at any similar location in neighbouring valleys. Small morphological variations such as broader leaves have been recorded from these two small populations, which are restricted to an area of just a few hundred square meters. Drosera regia is found in a natural fynbos vegetation amongst dense marshy grasses. The fynbos habitat is similar to a low or medium shrubland or heathland, dominated by low evergreen shrubs. The lower altitude site where D. regia is found is characterised by permanently damp soils consisting mostly of a gravel bench formed from a creek bed. The plants grow in a peaty quartzite sand, often with a gravel cover. Rhizomes of mature plants grow above ground and among associated grasses and sedges when gravel is absent and below ground when there is a gravel cover present. Associated vegetation included species of Leucadendron and members of the families Cyperaceae, Iridaceae, and Restionaceae. The habitat of D. regia depends on periodic fire sweeping through and keeping the larger plants from choking out D. regia. Frost occurs infrequently in the valley. Conservation status In a 2009 report of a 2006 trip, botanist Andreas Fleischmann noted that the higher altitude site is overgrown with plants of the family Restionaceae and he could not locate any remaining D. regia. The lower altitude site was in a similar state, but he recorded approximately 50 mature plants, making this one