Nevada County, California

[BarryRice]

Hey Folks,

Another weekend, another California site found. This is a scattering of lakes in Nevada County, not far from Yuba Gap.

Beth and I drove until the road gave out, then hiked along a degraded jeep trail to these lakes, elevation of about 1800 meters (5400 feet).

All the lakes had nice populations of Utricularia macrorhiza, U. minor, and also Drosera rotundifolia.

The first lake we visited had some great Drosera rotundifolia plants living on the charcoal surface of a floating log:



Mind you, this was a completely free-floating little "planting!"

Many of the plants were enormous, with rosette diameters in excess of 13 cm (5.25 inches)! Sure, most of that is petiole, but still the plants were BIG!

More photos:
www.sarracenia.com/photos/drosera/droserotun050.jpg
www.sarracenia.com/photos/drosera/droserotun049.jpg

What really blew us away was this site, which consisted of two floating Sphagnum mats:


Getting out to the site was, well, wet, but it was worth it!





Even my fisheye lens couldn't get all the plants:



This is the largest expanse of Drosera rotundifolia at such high densities that I've ever seen. When I got home Sunday night I checked out the site on GoogleEarth and could see the red tinge---Drosera visible even from space!

A lovely site, a lovely sight:


www.sarracenia.com/photos/drosera/droserotun056.jpg

A few more images:
www.sarracenia.com/photos/drosera/droserotun052.jpg

Cheers

Barry

[maxposwillo]

Hey Barry,

Wow! Those Drosera rotundifolia are spectacular!

Did you happen to visit the Darlingtonia 'Othello' site on this trip?

Max

[BarryRice]

Hey Max,

No, certainly we didn't have time. I've been to the 'Othello' site so many times that getting to new sites is vastly more satisfying right now. I'm tracking down a lead to some Darlingtonia sites new to me....

B

[Brian Barnes]

Hey B,

Absolutely beautiful sites!

There's so many Drosera there....and you didn't have the urge to lay down and roll in them a little? ;D

Happy Growing,

Brian. ;D

[jfowler]

Barry! Great work in finding these plants, and the photography is inspiring! The lack of competitive plants is amazing.

[BarryRice]

Thanks.

Of course, I wish that field work always consisted of a long string of successes like this, but such is far from the truth--as you know so well....

Tomorrow, for example, I'm going to be spending most of the day probably driving around forest service roads and trails, trying to figure out an approach to a possible (historical) Darlingtonia site that I've never seen before...wish me luck! (I'm not even trying to get to see the plants tomorrow--just the best approach to the area!)

B

[diana]

great pics, great place!

[jimscott]

Gorgeous, simply gorgeous!