Sarracenia Flava - "Bone Pit"

 

     This is my Sarracenia Flava (an American Pitcher plant), I was tiding it up and getting it into more light.  This is it's first full growing season and so far the pitchers are just over a foot tall.  Next year I expect the pitchers to get 2-3 feet tall.  There were three pitchers that were more horizontal than vertical so I cut them off.  I wanted to take a look inside the pitchers, so I made a cut the length of the pitcher then opened it up.

     Now I can see the exoskeletons of all the bugs the plant had digested.  It looks like a bone pit and I find this amazing!

Carnivorous Plants in a Mississippi Bog!

 

On our trip to Mississippi, we made a side trip to Buttercup Flats.  It's located in the De Soto National Forest near Wiggins, Mississippi, and it is one of the largest and most accessible pitcher plant savannas in the Southeast US.  This sprawling, fire-maintained wetland is internationally famous for its massive populations of rare, native carnivorous plants and specialized bog flora.  The savanna was sunny, hot and muggy, and the ground was soft and squishy, a perfect place for Sarracenia alata (Yellow Pitcher plants) and Drosera capillaris (tiny Pink sundews)!  We also saw some wildflowers and other plants that grow in the sandy bog.  I had a great time seeing these plants in the wild. 

Sarracenia alata (Yellow Pitcher plants)

Sarracenia alata (Yellow Pitcher plant)

Sarracenia alata bloom

Sarracenia alata pitchers and blooms

Sarracenia alata bloom

Sarracenia alata pitcher

Sarracenia alata pitcher

Sarracenia alata pitcher plant

Drosera capillaris AKA Pink Sundew

Rhexia alifanus aka Savanna Meadowbeauty

Aletris lutea aka Yellow Colicroot, Star Grass

Senega lutea aka Orange Milkwort

Lycopodiella alopecuroides aka foxtail clubmoss 

Lycopodiella alopecuroides aka foxtail clubmoss 

longleaf pine trees and sarracenia alatas 

Bog Garden of Carnivorous Plants

Bog Garden of Carnivorous Plants

    In a corner of Sherman Gardens is bog of carnivorous plants.  The bog is created by putting a liner in the ground like you would do for a small pond.  The flat stones hide the edge of the container/liner.  This keeps the moisture in the container creating a bog environment so that these carnivorous plants thrive.

Sarraceni (American Pitcher Plant)

Sarraceni (American Pitcher Plant)

Sarracenia Hybrid

 

Sarracenia leucophylla “red” x minor ‘Giant’

    This is the second growing season for this Sarracenia leucophylla “red” x minor ‘Giant’ (American pitcher plant).  Last year the pitchers were only 3-4" tall, but this year some pitchers are up to 17" tall. The tall pitcher on the left is fully open and collecting bugs.  The tall pitcher on the right is nearing it's maximum height and the pitcher will start to open up.

The open pitcher.

The pitcher will remain closed until it reaches the final height.

The backlighting shows of the "bug fill line", on this pitcher.

Inside The Pitcher!

             

My American Pitcher plants have come out of winter dormancy and are quickly growing new leaves/pitchers.  They are already taller than last year!  I was cleaning up the plants and removed this old pitcher from Sarracenia (Leucophylla "Red") X (Minor giant).

The pitcher plant lures insects with nectar and scent, and then the insect is trapped by slippery surfaces and downward-pointing hairs. The plant secretes digestive enzymes into the pitcher, which liquefy the insect and allow the plant to absorb the nutrients.

I was curious as to what the inside looked like.  So I made a cut, the length of the pitcher and opened it up.

The insects exoskeletons are what remain inside the pitcher.

People ask me if I need to feed my carnivorous plants, but as you can see they do fine on their own.