{"id":8560,"date":"2020-03-21T10:07:13","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T15:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richard.rathe.org\/?p=8560"},"modified":"2023-08-02T19:16:57","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T00:16:57","slug":"panhandle-pitcher-plant-expedition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/2020\/panhandle-pitcher-plant-expedition","title":{"rendered":"Panhandle Pitcher Plant Expedition 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The last time I went hunting for Pitcher Plants<\/strong> was 2017<\/a>. This year I went about two weeks earlier<\/strong> and learned more about their distribution and lifecycles. I visited six sites in all, moving from Florida<\/strong> into Alabama<\/strong>. [Gallery<\/a>] I saw mostly pitcher plant flowers as I moved west, apparently the flowers emerge days to weeks before the funnel-shaped leaves<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Clear Creek Boardwalk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My first stop was Clear Creek Nature Trail<\/strong> (which is actually part of Whiting Field Naval Air Station<\/strong>). They maintain a nice boardwalk so you can walk over and among numerous White-Top Pitcher Plants<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I had not been to this site since 2013<\/a>, and the plants were just beginning to emerge. I took a few photos of what was there, and caught a cryptic denizen<\/strong> I did not see until I reviewed the photos at home.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Green Tree Frog on White-Top Pitcher Plant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My next stop was nearby, the Yellow River Marsh Preserve<\/strong>. Unfortunately for me (not the preserve) there had been a recent prescribed burn<\/strong> in that area. I could find only one clump of pitcher plants on the perimeter of the small pond where they had been plentiful in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fortunately I did not have to go far, just a few steps over to the ditches on either side of the local road!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There were also many Sundews<\/strong> present, including the “Threadleaf<\/strong>” species I’d wondered about in the past (saying it looked like a cross between a “sundew and a fern”). Turns out I was half right!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Threadleaf Sundew<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I ended the first day at Tarkiln Bayou Preserve<\/strong> with about an hour of daylight remaining. They had a nice boardwalk and there were many White-Top Pitcher Plants<\/strong> present in one wet area, along with several Grass Pink Orchids<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Grass Pink Orchid

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next day was a bust as far as Pitcher Plants go, but I got a chance to explore two new areas that in a few weeks will probably be full of new growth. The first was Weeks Bay Pitcher Plant Bog<\/strong> with extensive boardwalk over and around a large wetland. There were a few flowers emerging from the straw and lots of Fern Fiddleheads<\/strong> unfurling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I also caught this Green Anole<\/strong> displaying his throat patch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Green Anole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second site was much larger, the Splinter Hill Bog Preserve<\/strong> (owned by the Nature Conservancy<\/strong>). There appeared to be several acres<\/em> of last year’s Pitcher Plants with a few leaves and flowers beginning to emerge. It should be spectacular in a few weeks if there is enough rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I went on a long walk into a large tract of Longleaf Pine<\/strong> uplands and was rewarded by several unexpected sightings. After a short boardwalk I saw my first Butterwort<\/strong> (another carnivorous genus)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yellow Butterwort (Pinguicula lutea<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then something even more surprising, peeking out of the straw along the trail were several miniature Blue Irises<\/strong>?! It turns out these are Dwarf Woodland Irises<\/a><\/strong>. The ground was not obviously wet and I was climbing a gentle hillside. Wow! I did not see that coming…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dwarf Woodland Iris
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I had planned to camp at Wright Lake<\/strong> in the Apalachicola National Forest<\/strong> but it remains closed after last year’s hurricanes. So I stayed in a motel and headed down there on my third morning not knowing what to expect. I was amply rewarded with the best showing of the entire trip!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About four miles north of the little town of Sumatra<\/strong> I noticed a large, recently burned area with many large yellow blooms of Trumpet-Leaf Pitcher Plants<\/strong>. I parked and started walking over the slightly wet uneven ground. I was not disappointed. In addition to the large pitchers there were Purple Flower Pitcher Plants<\/strong>, and what I think were last year’s Parrot Pitcher Plants<\/strong> (not yet emerging this year). There were also Orchids<\/strong> in abundance, at least two species of Butterwort<\/strong> and Sundews<\/strong> everywhere! A True Motherlode!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Purple Flower Pitcher Plants<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Godfrey’s Butterwort (Pinguicula ionantha<\/em>)
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Trumpet-Leaf Pitcher Plants<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Grass Pink Orchid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

[More photos, signs, maps in the Gallery<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last time I went hunting for Pitcher Plants was 2017. This year I went about two weeks earlier and learned more about their distribution and lifecycles. I visited six sites in all, moving from Florida into Alabama. [Gallery] I saw mostly pitcher plant flowers as I moved west, apparently the flowers emerge days to … Continue reading “Panhandle Pitcher Plant Expedition 2020”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,16,14,10],"tags":[395,472,402,363,400,401],"class_list":["post-8560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critters","category-flowers","category-photography","category-travel","tag-360-panoramas","tag-butterworts","tag-carnivorous-plants","tag-panoramas","tag-pitcher-plants","tag-sundews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8560"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9837,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8560\/revisions\/9837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}