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Late summer pitchers (July 2013) following record setting rainfall in region. A rare sight to see persistent pitchers into late July.
Late summer pitchers (July 2013) following record setting rainfall in region. A rare sight to see persistent pitchers into late July.
One of the best examples of classic habitat and growth habits I have observed for this species. Pinguicula primuliflora is a riparian species. Though it may be found growing away from streams, this is usually secondary to hydrology or habitat alteration and the remaining plants are able to briefly sustain in moist regions without moving water.
In typical habitat, as illustrated in several of these photos, plants will grow on the surface of fallen logs as long as sufficient moisture is present. At this private property site are: Pinguicula primuliflora, Drosera capillaris, Drosera intermedia, Sarracenia rubra (Ancestral/Sandhill variant), Sarracenia psittacina, Utricularia juncea, Utricularia purpurea, Utricularia gibba, and Utricularia subulata.
The bogs depicted in these photos are examples of well managed southeastern coastal plain habitats that have nearly disappeared in Georgia. This private property holds the best managed and largest bogs in the state.
Sustainability of these habitats requires 1) marked reduction of tree density; 2) Routine but not excessive application of fire, particularly non-growing season so that plants are not repeatedly weakened; and 3) eliminate alteration of hydrology by not puncturing hardpan commonly a result of deep bedding or furrowing by inappropriate forestry practices.
The three enemies of a healthy bog are excessive trees which draw out tremendous water daily; excessive shade; and diversion of water. Secondarily, increased nutrient flow into the bog from adjacent agricultural influences can increase grass growth resulting in reduction of species diversity. Excessive use of fire is also a problem for bogs in that this selects for more grass and burning recharges nutrients into the bog repeatedly. Winter burns are ecologically preferred as nutrients charged into the bog may leach out during the non-growing winter months resulting in much more nutrient depletion for the growing season. The majority of orchids, carnivorous plants, and other rare herbaceous plants are adapted to and prefer these nutrient poor conditions.
An unusually red form of this subspecies. Please compare to the "normal form" image later in this post.
It is difficult to say if this color variant is simply a variety or possibly the result of introgression with either S leucophylla or S psittacina and then generations of backcrosses. Nevertheless, an impressive variant.
An unusual and likely complex (multi-generational backcross) hybrid of Sarracenia minor and sarracenia psittacina. This is a western fringe population of sarracenia minor in the Florida panhandle.
Interesting red variants of the normally green/bronze Sarracenia minor at the southwestern edge of its range in Florida (though there is a population known one county south that is farther to the SW). Note the newly emerged leaves (green) compared to the more mature late summer growth leaves (red).
bog on trail to Sunday Lake, near North Fork Snoqualmie River
spectacular photos - www.flickr.com/photos/57225267@N06/sets/72157625624696308/
flower (our other species, D. anglica) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Drosera_anglica_flower.jpg
"at this present moment I care more about Drosera than the origin of all the species in the world" - Charles darwin
Interesting looking through "Insectivorous Plants" (1875) by Charles Darwin, available at darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_Insec...
Relatively recent references estimate 147 to 194 or so species of Drosera, mostly in Australia, Africa and South America.
my lichen photos by genus - www.flickr.com/photos/29750062@N06/collections/7215762439...
my photos arranged by subject, e.g. mountains - www.flickr.com/photos/29750062@N06/collections
These two images represent an interesting expression of this hybrid. Very likely this specimen is S xharperi backcrossed to Sarracenia minor.
I have been fortunate to be able to recheck the private property location periodically over the past 12 years. These are the first photos I have published from this site, but fortunately the best I have been able to take.
This site has been repeatedly sprayed with herbicide (for a variety of industrial reasons) and approximately 7 years ago had been reduced to a single plant that did not regrow normally for 3 years. this is the second year that plants have flowered and set seed in the past 7 years.
Unfortunately two other very rare plants historically occurred and bloom at this site: Lilium pyrophilum and Asclepias rubra. Both species are now extirpated from the site.
Interestingly this population exhibits some growth habits similar to both classic Sarracenia rubra var. rubra and the 'Ancestral variant' that I have previously posted from west central Georgia.
One of the best examples of classic habitat and growth habits I have observed for this species. Pinguicula primuliflora is a riparian species. Though it may be found growing away from streams, this is usually secondary to hydrology or habitat alteration and the remaining plants are able to briefly sustain in moist regions without moving water.
In typical habitat, as illustrated in several of these photos, plants will grow on the surface of fallen logs as long as sufficient moisture is present. At this private property site are: Pinguicula primuliflora, Drosera capillaris, Drosera intermedia, Sarracenia rubra (Ancestral/Sandhill variant), Sarracenia psittacina, Utricularia juncea, Utricularia purpurea, Utricularia gibba, and Utricularia subulata.
This is the "typical" form of the natural hybrid S xgilpinii.
The carnivorous plants depicted in these photos represent a newly discovered site for these species in Georgia. the Sarracenia psittacina of these bogs are among the largest I have ever seen. It is apparent that S psittacina in highly aquatice habitats allow for giant plant development as seen in Okeefenokee swamp and on Eglin AFB.
The Georgia variant is one of the most spectacular variants of Sarracenia purpurea. This variant in the wild in Georgia is restricted to several small populations at one locality and is perhaps the most imperiled of pitcher plants in Georgia.
Conservation plants grown in assurance colonies for species preservation and future replanting.
An unusual and likely complex (multi-generational backcross) hybrid of Sarracenia minor and sarracenia psittacina. This is a western fringe population of sarracenia minor in the Florida panhandle.
These plants represent a huge success story for habitat conservation in the state of Florida. At one time the Tate's Hell Swamp was heading for ecological disaster very similar to what "the grid" of the Green Swamp in North Carolina is facing today.
Unsustainable industrial forestry practices were attempting to drain the swamp and grow trees that could not otherwise survive in the swamp habitat. In the past decade, the state of Florida has purchased the majority of this land and started restoration practices by removing the garbage trees and restring historic hydrology.
I have visited this particular site first back in 2001 at which time there were some truly spectacular hybrids and large populations of S leucophylla. Over the next decade, prior to restoration practices, the diverity at this site was nearly lost due to altered hydrology and the replanting of slash pine.
The site is now restored as a grassland prairie and these images represent the slow recovery of what will likely become a spectacular site in time.
This butterwort, a carnivorous plant, though rare throughout its range is commonly locally abundant at sites of occurrence. The classic habitat is moderate to slow moving sandy tannic streams and associated open floodplain areas. It commonly occurs in proximity to other species of carnivorous plants.
This is the northernmost known occurrence for this species and only occurrence not in the coastal plain proper.
A rare and spectacular endemic plant to South Africa, Roridula dentata superficially resembles sundews of the genus Drosera. Roridula dentata and R gorgonias are the two extant species of this carnivorous plant genus found only in South Africa. Roridula spp have several somewhat unique features that separates them from the similar appearing sundews (Drosera spp.).
Roridula, despite the sticky stalked glands similar to the sundews, produces no digestive enzymes - the sticky leaves only serve to trap insects. Rather than digesting these captured insects with enzymes, Roridula spp. host several species of bugs of the genus Pameridea forming a symbiotic relationship in which the bugs feed on trapped insects and excrete waste on the plant leaves that in turn are absorbed as nutrients for the plant. Therefore, rather than truly carnivorous, Roridula would be considered a protocarnivorous plant in that the nutrient assimilation results from the work of a symbiotic insect. My next post will address the insect life on these plants.
The second and perhaps most fascinating aspect of Roridula spp. is the fact that the genus is believed to be related to the most ancient remains of a carnivorous plant in the fossil record - amber encapulated leaves very similar to modern Roridula found in amber mines at Kaliningrad, Russia. These amber specimens are dated to between 35-50 million years old. The plants which we see today may have changed very little since the time of the last dinosaurs and the beginning of the age of mammals.