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Post by peatmoss on Jun 2, 2017 11:23:04 GMT -5
Howdy Y'all, Now that I've had a freshly brewed cup of covfefe, I can get down to business with posting some images from a recent trip to North Carolina. This presented a great opportunity to see and photograph some beautiful CPs and their habitats, because as we all know, in N.C. their BBQ is weird, but their plants are weirder. The first site was a small state park to search for venus flytraps (spoiler; we didn't find any) that presented a great opportunity to take a look at some of the unique habitats and botanical oddities that are found in this region. I'll post some pictures of other non-carnivorous plants in this post later, but to start, here are some CP's: The park, despite having a trail named after them, did not have any venus' flytraps visible from the path, but it did have this lovely S. flava: Sarracenia flava in habitat by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr * The trees in the background are notable, being the abundant longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris), a dominant species in many of the habitats where carnivorous plants grow down there. This site was a pocosin, which is a type of boggy wetland. D. capillaris was abundant: Drosera capillaris by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr D. intermedia was less abundant, but still relatively common: Drosera intermedia by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr * Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it out to any D. brevifolia or D. filliformis sites on this trip - gotta leave something good for next time! Obligatory snake - This Copperhead ( Agkistrodon contortrix, likely a northern/southern intergrade) was found basking in a hardwood forest down the trail. These are a beautiful & mildly toxic species of pit viper that's found throughout the Eastern U.S. Agkistrodon contortrix - Copperhead by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr
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Post by peatmoss on Jun 2, 2017 11:30:21 GMT -5
A few days later, a friend of mine was kindly to show off some phenomenal local sites: Dionaea muscipula - flytraps are endemic to a small area of southeastern N.C. that is getting smaller and smaller each year due to poaching and habitat destruction. Dionaea muscipula - Venus Flytrap by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr This first site was overgrown due to a lack of controlled burning. Competition from more vigorous plants species is a major threat to flytraps and Sarracenia growing in habitats that aren't periodically lit on fire to control growth. This habitat was likely a former longleaf pine savannah, and would still be if regular burning had occurred. Luckily controlled burning is a well accepted method of land management in the South East, so many sites are still maintained in a state similar to how they would've appeared prior to the rise of wildfire suppression: Sarracenia flava w/ P. palustris by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr A beautiful orchid in the genus Cleistes: Cleistes sp. - Spreading Pogonia by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr Some lovely Sarracenia flava: Sarracenia flava by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr
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Post by peatmoss on Jun 2, 2017 11:38:25 GMT -5
This next site was an absolutely pristine longleaf pine savannah that was burned earlier this spring. Sites like this (and the people who work to preserve them) are a wonderful thing! Longleaf pine savannah, with S. flava: Sarracenia flava by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr There was an astounding quantity of flava at this site: Sarracenia flava by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr S. purpurea was also abundant: Sarracenia purpurea by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr S. flava spam: Sarracenia flava by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr Sarracenia flava by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr Sarracenia flava in Longleaf Pine (P. palustris) savannah by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr Sarracenia x catesbaei - a naturally occurring hybrid of flava and purpurea: Sarracenia x catesbaei by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr And of course the ground was festooned with tiny mouths, waiting for helpless insects to fall for the trap: Dionaea muscipula - Venus Flytrap by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr Another snake - this Banded Watersnake ( Nerodia fasciata), was found sleeping in a rut on a dirt road. It did not take kindly to our attempts to move it off the road. Nerodia fasciata - Banded Watersnake by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr
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Post by peatmoss on Jun 2, 2017 11:43:13 GMT -5
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Post by peatmoss on Jun 2, 2017 11:53:37 GMT -5
To tie up the trip, a short jaunt north to see a few more flytrap sites: A few Eastern Mud Turtles ( Kinosternon subrubrum) were found crossing back roads. These are interesting little semiaquatic turtles that have a fondness for shallow wetlands: Kinosternon subrubrum - Mud Turtle by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr The first VFT site had an astounding number of plants (~100-200) that were hidden in deep wiregrass: Dionaea muscipula - Venus Flytrap by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr * This image shows why visiting in flowering season is beneficial. Imagine trying to spot plants in that grass! This site wasn't a great place to view the plants themselves, but provided a great opportunity to photograph VFT flowers: Dionaea muscipula - Venus Flytrap by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr A short ride down the road revealed a site that had plants that were more visible: Dionaea muscipula - Venus Flytrap by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr Nice red trap: Dionaea muscipula - Venus Flytrap by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr Sarracenia purpurea was also growing here: Dionaea muscipula & Sarracenia purpurea by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr These sedges in the genus Rynchospora were abundant at these sites. Very interesting flowers: Rhynchospora sp. - White Topped Sedge by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr And to finish it off, a plant that had interesting partially fused traps: Dionaea muscipula - Venus Flytrap by Gabriel Levac, on Flickr That's probably all for today, but I'll try and post more images, both of CP's and some of the other botanical oddities that are found in N.C., as I finish processing them. Cheers, Gabriel
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Post by jeff on Jun 3, 2017 1:26:28 GMT -5
Bonjour
Superb reportage
for ping P.lutea or P.caerulea ,the latter seems the most present in this state
jeff
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Post by roraima on Jun 3, 2017 1:57:14 GMT -5
Awesome posts!
Thanks so much for sharing these in situ pics.
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Post by ep31 on Jun 3, 2017 6:47:05 GMT -5
Amazing photos! Thank you so much for sharing these with us
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