Sarracenia in their natural habitat

[bogbaron]

These leucophylla are the same as the ones in post # 90, but about 6 months later.



These are normally late bloomers but I'm wondering if they will bloom at all this year.









Could this one have been subjected to freezing winds? It looks like it has been frost bitten. Surely not, this is Florida.

[HM]

I absolutely love the new pics, bogbaron. Thanks for posting. What are those grass like (star shaped) plants next to the drosera? And that rosea all dried up like that, poor thing! Excellent pics, hope to see more.

[-=Joel=-]

I dont think they have started to grow yet. Give them another month and I reckon you will start to see some nice pitchers That green purp with the red nectar roll looks nice

That seedling would have been one from last year. This year it should start putting out newer bigger pitchers. Possibly 4 - 6inches in height.

[bogbaron]

Good morning HM, Thanks for the compliments. I hate to admit it but I don't know what plant the star shaped plant is. I do know it is prevalent in the area and gets much much bigger.

Hey Joel, That seedling is only 2 inches tall. It is hard for me to imagine it growing so little since last year. You are probably right but it must be a really slow grower if it is from last year. I guess it is past time for me to plant my seeds but I think I'll try some anyway.

Here are a few pictures from Grayton Beach State Park. They were taken about a week after the prescribed burn executed by the park rangers. The first one is of the south side of the trail and was not burned. The second one is of the north side of the trail and shows blackened tree trunks but green tree tops. These 2 sides are separated by a 20 ft. trail.





This same trail is used by sightseers and wild game as these deer tracks show.




These are a few rosea from the affected area.















I saw no evidence of the threadleaf sundew I saw last year but I'm fairly sure they will reappear later this year.

[bogbaron]

Here are a few greener rosea from my property about 45 or 50 miles away from Grayton Beach. Perhaps they were less effected from the drought by being shaded. Being shaded may be why they are greener instead of redder. They look fairly healthy to me. These pictures were taken 2-29-08 north and east of the pond in an area previously unexplored by me. They resemble many of the other s.rosea in the area.


























This one is called Ragged Red



This one was nearby and is not carnivorous but is another unknown to me. Does anyone recognize it?



Have a nice day, BoGHead

[nepenthesmountain]

Thanks for keeping updated on this. Would you class the sarracenia that grow on your land part of your collection, or merely good looking ornamental plants (well of course they are ornamental, but you know what I mean)?

[-=Joel=-]

Sadly sarracenia grow very slowly from seed. That seedling will have only had 6 - 8 months to get going before it had to go dormant.

In ideal conditions sarracenia will mature (get to a flowering size) within 5 - 8 years. Some will of course grow quicker and some slower but 5 years on average is about right.

[bogbaron]

Hello NM, These plants grow on my property some 30 miles or so from my house and I would only considered them part of my collection by some far stretch of my imagination. That would be similar to saying the hundreds of pines, oaks, yupon and other plants there were part of my collection. They were there when I acquired the property and unless I get pretty desperate they will be there when I die. Ornamentals grow many places but usually as an ornamental they are grown in a garden, flower bed, or as a potted plant for display or beautification of an area. They do go from beautiful to pretty and sometimes to down right ugly but they are a natural part of the property and I would not call them an ornamental even though they are beautiful. I'm not much help to them although I have intentions of being more help if I can drag myself up there a little more often. It will be interesting if I can keep a photo journal of the plants, especially if I can keep track of individuals from year to year.

[HM]

The soil they grow in actually looks quite nutrient rich to me. Is it? The layer of rotting leaves and humus I mean. I know people say don't use a soil mix that's too rich for Neps but in some areas I see them grow in thick humus, some totally covering the basal pitchers.

[bogbaron]

Hey Joel, I had heard that they need to be about 5 before they start to bloom and I was fairly sure they grew slowly but the inches the bud of my s.flava has grown in the week since repotting made me feel sure that the seedling was from this year. I've been wrong before and feel sure I will be wrong again. Thanks for straightening me out. Have a good day, BoGHead
P.S.
Have your seedlings sprouted yet?

[-=Joel=-]

No sprouting seedlings yet but then again we are still getting the occasional frost here along with the freak storm.

By bud I'm guessing you mean flower bud ? Flowers on these plants will grow very quickly. They need to do open up before the pitchers otherwise they eat there pollinators.

If you have marked down where that seedling was or even sowed your own, you will see how slow they really are. Its the reason why people pay alot more money for unique seed grown plants. They take longer to get into the hobby and longer to raise to a sellable / splittable size. Go back to it if you can, end of June / July. You will see how little it has grown

[nepenthesmountain]

HM, the reason there is no nutrients on their habitat is because it is washed away quickly by the water, so any rotting material will either be taken downstream or lose any nutrients it holds. Which makes me wonder, if a rabbit corpse was lying next to an area of CPs and it was rotting and leaking blood enough to have a substantial flow of nutrients, would it kill the CPs?

[bogbaron]

Good morning HM, The area these plants grow in was once part of a pine tree farm. There is a small creek which forks and runs along the top and bottom of the property with a few low places and small alluvial plains formed by the overflow from the creek when it overflows. The leaves from the pine trees and the oak trees tend to make the water and soil in the area slightly acidic. The largest part of the area is called the sand hills by local residents because it won't retain water and was thought to only be good to grow pine trees. The soil looks dark and rich on both sides of the creek but if you dig down a few feet it is white sand for the most part. There must be plenty of nutrients because there are numerous varieties of plants but the area won't sustain vegetable farms so nobody lived there during the early days of Florida. The St. Joe company, the largest land owner in Florida, owned most of this area for a long time and grew pine trees for its paper making industry. Most of the cps seem to grow near the creek and in the lower portion of the land where the overflowing waters deposited the seeds as they retreated. I've been concerned that the drought would do these cps in but as low as it is there the soil seems to stay damp under the surface and I think they will be ok. I hope so. Have a nice day, BoGHead

I get a lot of s.l. leaves with a curly Q at the end. Will it open into a useful trap?

[-=Joel=-]

Sadly it wont turn into a trap. During the winter months some species put out phyllodia (sp) which are there to photosynthesize and nothing else.

On flavas and leucophyllas these are normally tall & straight unless they have been damaged by bugs or other animals. However on oreophila they are short and curly.