RHH's photos with the keyword: sarracenia

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.

This strange orchid is from Brazil and belongs to the group of orchids known as Pleurothallids. Its older name is Pleurothallis sarracenia and it is small creeping plant with thick channeled leaves and these odd purple flowers which resemble slugs kissing.

Here's another post for the day, since I may not get a chance to get back on line. These are more of the carnivorous plants described in my last post, non-native but well-established in a muskeg or floating bog south of where we live. These are the White Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia leucophylla. These are not as well-established as the others but nevertheless have their own niche in the bog. The pitchers which are lined with downward pointing hairs are half-filled with liquid and when an insect ventures in and falls in the liquid, it is unable to get back out and is digested by the plant. For many of the insects a visit to these plants is a form of double jeopardy as well since there are often spiders lurking under the lids of the plants and waiting for unwary visitors.

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.

When we visited the floating bog on Summer Lake in Skagit County a few weeks ago ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... , we had no intention of returning again this year. However, our good friend, Marti Anderson, expressed an interest in seeing the bog, and so we decided to go once more to show her this wonderful place, and as it turned out, picked a beautiful, sunny, autumn day. We spent nearly four hours there enjoying the sunshine, taking photos, and examining these remarkable plants. This is the bog where someone has introduced a number of species of carnivorous plants, especially Pitcher Plants and Flytraps and where they have become established and flourished. The place is amazing and it was a lot of fun to show the place to Marti, who I think enjoyed the excursion but for the wet feet she got at the end with my wife's help. Marti's photostream is here: www.flickr.com/photos/meanderingwa/ and you can link to her blog from mine. There are three species of Pitcher Plants growing in the bog. This is the White Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia leucophylla. It seems to be the least well established of thee three, since we counted only about a dozen pitchers, many of which were quite small. The other two, the Purple Pitcher Plant and the Yellow Pitcher Plant are very well established. More pictures of the lake, of its floating island and of these plants can be found on my blog: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... .

This and the previous picture were taken on the edge of the muskeg or floating bog on Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington, with the water of the lake as a background. The deadly beauty of these plants was evident when we looked inside the pitchers - not much water but the lower part of every pitcher was filled with dead insects. There are three species of Pitcher Plants growing in the bog. This is the Yellow Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia flava. The other two are the White and Purple Pitcher Plants. More pictures of the lake, of its floating island and of these plants can be found on my blog: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-vi... .

As the poor insect goes from door to door looking for a treat, perhaps a lovely piece of half rotten meat (isn't that what these look like?) he suddenly finds that he is the treat, swallowed whole and unsuspecting by one of the Halloween creature from the Little Bog of Horrors. Horrible trick, Isn't it? These are Purple Pitcher Plants (wonderful alliteration) growing in the quaking bog at Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington. They have become established there and grow in huge clumps of hundreds of pitchers. Each pitcher is lined with hairs and filled with water to catch insects. 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-...

I know that I am getting tired of these pictures and I'm sure everyone else is too, but I promise this will be the last. It was taken on one of our recent visits to the floating bog on Summer Lake. On this White Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia leucophylla) we found this crab spider which had captured and was dining on a moth or skipper much larger than itself. When we tried to photograph it it retreated around the edge of the pitcher plant with its prey and finally dropped the insect into the pitcher. Whether it was finished eating or just tired of trying to avoid us we could not tell, but what a double jeopardy! Insects have to beware both the deadly beauty of the Pitcher Plants and the spiders so often lurking inside or nearby. 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-...

Even the flowers of these carnivorous plants are weird. This is the flower, nearly gone by, of a Purple Pitcher Plant. They are actually even stranger than they look since they are thick and fleshy to the touch, and, of course, held above the pitchers which are ready to catch unsuspecting insects that visit the flowers. 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-...

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-...

On Saturday, September 1, my wife and I made our annual pilgrimage to Summer Lake in Skagit County and to a muskeg or floating bog on the lake to see the Pitcher Plants and other carnivorous plants that have been naturalized there. I wrote in a previous post that no one seems to know when and how these plants were first put there, but several species have become well established, though it appeared to us that someone had removed them from the north end of the lake. When we first heard of this place, we were told that there were five non-native species of carnivorous plants to be found. On our first visit we found only four, the Purple, White and Yellow Pitcher Plants and the Venus Fly Traps, We did not find the Cobra Lily and have not found it on any visit since. On this most recent visit, the White Pitcher Plant seems to have disappeared as well, but that is not a surprise since we only ever found a few of them, and fewer every year. That they are not native is probably the reason. The other two Pitcher Plants we found again all around the east and south sides of the lake, the yellow especially on the south side and the Purple mostly on the east side. The Venus Fly Traps we found only on the southwest side, but they appeared to be better established than ever before. In addition to these three non-natives the Round-leaved Sundew, with its tiny pads of glistening hairs, can also be found growing in abundance, this also especially on the east side. Both the Purple and Yellow Pitcher Plants were in flower, the first time we had seen the flowers of the Purple, which blooms a bit earlier than the yellow, but we were earlier this year than we usually are and were delighted to see these odd blooms. The Venus Fly Traps were finished flowering, but only just, and we will have to go to see them in flower some other time. The photo shows the Yellow Pitcher Plants (obviously) and the size of the clumps which have established themselves around the lake. More pictures and information here: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/09/carnivorous...

This is another photo taken at Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington, where someone has planted different non-native species of carnivorous plants that have become naturalized there. We go every year to see these, but usually go in October. Since we were earlier this year we were able to see these flowers still in bloom. The Purple Pitcher Plant is Sarracenia purpurea and is native to the eastern United States. The plant is shown below. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/09/carnivorous...

This is another photo from the muskeg or quaking bog at Summer Lake in Skagit County, Washington. As noted before, someone, a long time ago, introduced a number of species of carnivorous plants into this bog and they have become established there. We usually go to see them in the autumn when the pitcher plants are in flower. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/09/carnivorous...

This small and unusual orchid species is also known as Pleurothallis sarracenia. It is from Brazil and always produces two flowers that face in opposite direction and are held close to the leaves. The photo is not as sharp as I would like, but it showed the flowers best. More information here: orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2012/10/acianthera-bragae...

I've posted any number of pictures from this place before, but there is a lake in Skagit County, Washington that has a population of non-native carnivorous plants, including several species of Pitcher Plants and the Venus Fly Trap. These were introduced many years ago, though no one seems to know by whom or why, and many of them have flourished there, especially this species. I suppose that this is a disaster, ecologically speaking, but we are fascinated and go every year to see these plants The are growing on a muskeg or floating bog, a thick, floating mat of vegetation that can be walked on, though one can feel it moving. This is the flower of Sarracenia purpurea, the Purple Pitcher Plant, photographed early in the morning. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/09/carnivorous...

Another photo from the muskeg or floating bog in Skagit County where various species of carnivorous plants have been introduced and have flourished. These are the specialized leaves of the Yellow Pitcher Plant. Lined with hairs and with liquid at the bottom, they trap and digest insects. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/09/carnivorous...

This is the carnivorous Yellow Pitcher Plant and its flower photographed at Summer Lake in Skagit County. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/09/carnivorous...