RHH's photos with the keyword: sarracenia purpurea

This is the third of the introduced pitcher plants we found in the "little bog of horrors." This plant, though not as showy as the other two was found growing in huge clumps and had recently been in flower. In a previous posting of a picture of these plants, I wrote: "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. 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. "

This picture was published in the Mexican conservation journal, Especies, Mar-Apr, 2010 in an article on carnivorous plants. I talked so much about the "little bog of horrors" that my seventeen year old son decided he had to see it too. Yesterday, after he finished school for the day, I took him there and we spent several hours photographing the several different species of carnivorous plants. I had my DSLR but he had only an inexpensive point and shoot, since the camera he usually uses wasn't available. While there he came up with the brilliant idea of sticking the lens of the camera into the tubular openings of the pitcher plants and in doing so discovered this dragonfly which had been captured by a pitcher plant, had drowned, and was now floating on top of the liquid in the plant. He was very proud of the picture and to tell the truth, I was a bit envious. In any case, here it is. You are looking down into the sunlit tube of a Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea) at the remains of a dragonfly and his watery grave. The pictures below show the water in one of the "pitchers" and a small clump of pitchers growing in a mound of sphagnum moss.

These are Purple Pitcher Plants, Sarracenia purpurea, photographed at the Little Bog of Horrors, as we call it. The photo was taken by my wife, some of whose pictures I've added to the blog posting about the place where these plants were found: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-bog-... . As I've mentioned in a previous post, these plants are not native to the state of Washington, but someone has introduced them into a floating bog or muskeg at a Lake in Skagit County and they have established themselves there, along with other species of Sarracenia and the Venus' Flytrap.

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-...

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-...