Sarracenia flava in South Carolina

[jfowler]

Recently, I made a day trip to the Francis Marion National Forest in Berkeley County, South Carolina. A few friends decided to get together to see what was blooming down there this spring.

This site is one of my favorites for the Yellow pitcher plant, a carnivorous plant of the southeastern Atlantic coastal plain. As you can see, they were doing well this year. Unfortunately, the site was bisected by the tracks of recreational, all-terrain vehicles. I'm not sure I understand how they can just plow through this beautiful area with such abandon.

I am thankful that the forest has been set aside so that these unusual plants will have a place to live.

04-22-2010 S. flava species in the FMNF, South Carolina.
Note the ATV tracks in the lower left corner of the image...


04-22-2010 S. flava species in the FMNF, South Carolina.


04-22-2010 S. flava species in the FMNF, South Carolina.


04-22-2010 S. flava species in the FMNF, South Carolina.

[Brian Barnes]

Hey Jim,

Those look good! Nice to see the Sarrs are beginning to "pop" up your way. Always a wonderful sight....
Is that the S. flava "copper-lid" form in the center/right of your first photo?

Happy Growing,

Brian.

[jfowler]

You've got a great eye, Brian! I was going to point it out, but I didn't think there was enough detail for anyone to notice it. If you want an expanded look at these and other plants from the FMNF that I took last week, check out my flickr page:

tinyurl.com/25msuct

If you have a flickr account, you will see the "all sizes" button above the image once you click on a particular image. This will enable you to enlarge the image considerably for a closer look.

As you are probably aware, copper tops and even var. ornata seem to pop up in otherwise homogeneous populations of var. maxima, the most prolific variety down there. Wish we had var. rugelii but it doesn't get up this far. The only species that occurs more frequently is S. minor -- it's everywhere! We have S. rubra, but no S. purpurea at all...

I'm still pissed about the ATV tracks. I spoke with the Forest Service, and they said that they can't be everywhere in order to catch the bad guys... I think they are going to try to construct a fence around this population, but much damage has already been done.

Jim

[buckcity]

Visited your flickr pictures; especially enjoyed the swamp pinks and pygmy pipes-new to me.

Great pictures.

ATV's in sensitive areas burn me up too.

[jfowler]

Thanks, buckcity. You're welcome to visit anytime.

[Randy Zerr]

Nice patch of flavas, Jim. It's a shame to see humanoids with motorized vehicles, especially the southern variety with the reddish colored necks gain access to this area. I don't think I've ever seen a bog around here without some kind of 4x4 tracks through it.