Jackson County, NC Mountain S. purpurea

[DroseraBug]

I visited this bog approximately 10 years ago, mapped it, and promised myself that I would return to check on it for years to come. The further you go into the bog the more purps you find. I've always kind of thought the pitchers may get shaded out by the vigorous alders, Viburnum and other shrubbery that grows there but they seem to be as healthy as can be 10 years later. Every time I go I plan to return several years later. In my opinion these purple pitcher plants take advantage of the natural deep wetland channels created through the bog with higher water levels in the adjacent stream. The deeper channels create hummuck-like microhabitats allowing less shubbery and more sunlight access. This is where the plants are healthiest and most abundant. Pitcher-plant midges can be observed in almost all of the older pitchers. These photos were taken in May, 2010 while falling in up to my knees in the side channels.




Notice the hummuck created by higher flows in the adjacent stream forming deeper wetland/bog channels
(drainage patterns). The plants seems much healthier than those growing under the dense shubbery.


A plant not as colorful surviving under dense shrubbery. Notice no other plants nearby. Observations suggests the wetland channels (drainage patterns) created by the stream enhance pitcher plant health.


canopy above the plant in last photo




This of course, was not in the bog but we found them in a tree in Brevard, NC on our trip. White Squirrels were apparently introduced to there from the Florida panhandle ~50 years ago and went from 2 individuals to now maybe thousands.

[runnervalentine]

wow this is really cool, i live in nc and would be interested in planning a trip to see these growing in the wild. any way you could send some vague directions?

[jfowler]

I was shown this location a couple of years ago, and remarked that it could use a burn or at least clipping the alder. But, it sounds like the plants are still doing well. I'll have to get back there to check on them (if I can locate my map...)

Nice pics.

[mbfmark]

I live in Oconee County, SC, immediately south of Jackson Co, NC and I believe I stumbled upon this same site recently. The plants look great and some of the clumps were more than 2 feet across. What concerned me, though, was that I could see no bloom stems from the previous season and no seedlings or young plants. I worry that the overgrowth, while not killing the mature plants, is creating too much shade for good flowering and seed germination. I think I read somewhere that this site is owned by the county or the state. It would be great if some conservation group or native plant society would take the site on as a maintenance project. Interestingly, I saw very little variation from plant to plant, and most had very few contrasting veins. But this could be the results of too much shade in the growing season I suppose. I hope at the very least, that the site is protected from development, which is certainly close enough by to cause one to worry.

[ICPS-bob]

It is relatively easy to find land ownership from the county assessor's office. For Jackson County, try this
taxadmin.jacksonnc.org/html/land_records_gis.html

Once you determine the ownership of the parcels in the immediate area, that is the first step to suggesting management options.

[mbfmark]

THANKS BOB, that was helpful. Their online map shows me the exact tax parcel that the plants are located on, though apparently its still a Beta site and the details of the ownership aren't up and running yet. But its a start and I'll take it from there. I would love to see those plants protected, managed and flourishing - they are such a rare thing in my "neck of the woods." I would definitely volunteer some of my time to assist in management.

[ICPS-bob]

Be careful in divulging the location and the plants it contains. You might be dismayed to visit the site and discover that the plants have been dug up by some enterprising fool.

[DroseraBug]

Management discussions regarding this site have been initiated with pertinent regulators and owners. Currently they appear to be interested in the bog's management. A very small scale pilot study was completed a few years back by the government at this site with good results. I expressed interests regarding your same concerns and through NASC met with the owner and government regulators at this site. We plan to continue discussions and hopefully actions related to the bogs management.

I will continue to update this post as I hear more. Thanks.

[mbfmark]

This is very good news. I'll hang back and I'm definitely ready to offer help should any management outings be scheduled in the future. I'm just down the road from the location. Just to make sure I am talking about the same site and not a new one, please email me and I'll describe the location to you.
[e-mail]