A RARE species of carnivorous plant is among nearly 50 plants scientists have recorded for the first time in Cape York.

Botanists who were part of a scientific expedition to Olkola Country this month have revealed their findings from traditional lands.

The research trip was part of the latest Bush Blitz, a pioneering nature-discovery partnership between the Federal Government, BHP Billiton, and Earthwatch Australia.

The expedition unearthed 13 new species of spiders, rare fish and orchids.

Royal Botanic Gardens research scientist Richard Jobson said one of the more interesting botanical finds was a carnivorous plant, the bladderwort (Utricularia).

The new unnamed species has only been known from a single specimen located at the Cape’s Jardine River. Dr Jobson said the plant has small, pink flowers about half a centimetre long, sitting on a 5cm tall stalk.

“In the wet soil of the swamp, they place tiny bladder traps that capture prey, small crustaceans,’’ he said. “They’re not easy to find. We found them just scouring the swamps, contending with leeches.”

There are about 200 species of bladderworts across the globe, with their traps ranging in size from 0.2mm to 1.2cm long. Utricularia species occur almost always in wetlands.

Dr Jobson said the discovery of the new species would help aid knowledge about the biodiversity of wetland environments.

“Wetlands are important. They filter water, and their health is essential,’’ he said. The scientists surveyed plants in an area called ‘‘the desert’’, so-called because it sits on the top of a low sandstone plateau that is porous, therefore has insufficient water to support grazing.

The floodplain was dotted with mound springs, where slow and gentle eruptions of groundwater has created piles of rounded stones.

Most of the Olkola property was in very good ecological condition, remarkably weed-free, and relatively lightly impacted by feral animals.

Dr Jobson said the botanists were aiming to return to the region during the wet season.

“A lot of the places that would hold new species in that region are in the wet grasslands, and they were all dry during the expedition,’’ he said. “There’s still the potential for new species of aquatic plants.”