RHH's photos with the keyword: yellow pitcher plant

Here's one for Halloween - some carnivorous plants growing on a floating bog here in western Washington. They're not native to Washington, but they're moving in and they're hungry! More seriously, they are not native but many years ago were transplanted as part of a rescue from the Carolinas, where they do grow, to this bog where they've become very well established, They are the Yellow Pitcher Plants, Sarracenia flava. There are four other species of non-native plants, including two other pitchers growing in this bog as well as one native species. For those not acquainted with these unusual plants, they are carnivorous, the water-filled pitchers trapping insects which are digested and which provide nutrients to the plants. The inset photo was taken by my son with a point and shoot camera down into the tube of a Purple Pitcher Plant and shows a dead dragonfly floating in the water at the top of the tube. The oddly shaped growth in front of the pitchers (the leaves) is one of the flowers of this species. It flowers late in the year about the time we usually make our annual visit to the bog.

They look so bright and cheerful, don't they? Well, don't be fooled by them because they eat meat and they may even grab you as you walk by. This is my post, or one of them, for Halloween, and very appropriate, I thought, because these are carnivorous plants, the Yellow Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia flava, with several pitchers or specialized leaves and a flower. I've posted pictures from this place before, but we make a trip there every year to see these amazing plants. They grow in a muskeg or floating bog on a lake south of us and there are five species of carnivorous plants growing there, one native and three non-native, and all very well established and thriving, especially these Yellow Pitchers and also the Purple Pitcher Plant. No one seems to know who planted them in the bog or when, and there are, of course, issues with introducing non-native plants into an area, though this bog is remote enough and isolated enough that there is very little chance that they are going to spread elsewhere. Nor do they seem to be competing with the native plants or crowding them out. We went to the bog with a friend and found, as usual that access to the floating mat of vegetation on which these plants grow to be rather difficult - a a kind of balancing act over old sunken logs and floating boards with fairly deep water all around. In the end we all fell in and were wet to our waists and though we wore boots had to pour the water out of our boots when we arrived back at the car.

In Explore October 3, 2009, #198. Yesterday I accompanied a group from the Washington Native Plant Society on an excursion to a lake in Western Washington where someone (who and when is a mystery) has introduced a number of carnivorous plants from other parts of the country, primarily the southeastern USA. These plants have established themselves and are thriving and reseeding in their new location. There are three species of pitcher plants (Sarracenia), Venus Fly-traps (Dionaea), a Cobra Lily (Darlingtonia), all introductions, as well as Sundews (Drosera) and a Butterwort (Pinguicula) which are native, but may be introduced in this location. These all grow along the edges of a quaking bog. We got very wet and muddy searching for these plants, but saw an abundance of the plants, this species still in bloom and the others finished. The gentleman who led the expedition refers to the place as the little bog of horrors, but it is really a little bog of wonders. The other pictures show the Yellow Pitcher Plant in situ and the lake around which the bog has formed. For those who are not acquainted with carnivorous plants, these are plants that "eat" insects. In this case the insects crawl into the water in the tubular leaf which is shown, are unable to get out, drown, and are digested by the plant.

In Explore October 8, 2009, #374. When we visited the bog where someone had introduced all these carnivorous plants, we found this plant in abundance and in flower. The flowers, as can be seen in this photo, are very large and have a very large stigmatic surface. It is striking that this plant uses insects both for food and for pollination.

I was so taken with the graceful lines and beautiful colors of these plants that I took far more pictures than I know what to do with. These plants are about two feet tall (60 cm) and varied in color from a bright yellow to a duller greenish brown.

In Explore October 6, 2010, #346. These are Yellow Pitcher Plants, Sarracenia flava, growing in a floating bog about an hour south of where we live. I've posted pictures from this bog before, but we visited again a week or so ago and saw these amazing plants again. No one knows who planted them there or when, but they are not native though they are well-established. Further pictures and a description of our excursion can be found here: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... .

Here is another of the weird flowers of one of the carnivorous pitcher plants, this time of the Yellow Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia flava. This, too, though it looks a bit like a daffodil flower is thick and fleshy to the touch, and, though it is not as tall as the pitchers must lure some insects to the pitchers, where they are drowned and digested. These were photographed at Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington, where a number of species of carnivorous plants (at least three species of Pitcher Plants) have been introduced and are flourishing, as their blooms and seeds clearly show. For more information see the links to my blog below. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

Do not open the door Saturday evening if you live in Skagit County! These creatures will be looking for a treat, but they don't like candy. In fact, if you look closely, you'll see the remains of the last meal on the lip of the pitcher to the right, a small dragonfly of some sort. So, unless you want to be the next "treat" don't open the door. These are Yellow Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia flava), but showing some of the variation in color. They vary in background color from bright yellow to green and some have almost none of the heavy veining of these plants. For more information see my previous posts and the links to my blog below. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

One more Halloween photo of the Yellow Pitcher Plant and its strange flower. Whether the flowers attract insects to the pitchers I do not know, but the flowers are very thick and fleshy and feel as though they are made of leather. This photo was taken on the edge of the floating bog with the water of Summer Lake in the background. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-bog-...

A last picture, I think, from our excursion to Summer Lake. This is the Yellow Pitcher Plant, now established by the thousands on the floating bog and shores of the lake. If you look closely you can see a fly perched on the rim of the pitcher and one can only guess what happened to it, but that close to the opening it probably became a meal. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/09/carnivorous...