Finally, we found them!
Yep, lots more moisture here, in fact there were areas of
open, standing water. And with the increased water: Sarracenia psittacina! These were just about a week from
flowering. Excellent.
Even though you can see charred, black twigs are visible in the upper right hand portion of this photograph, the needle
and twig litter
among these plants was unburnt. I'm guessing that at the time of the most recent burn, the pine litter was saturated
with a thin layer of water. The fire must have burned away all the woody vegetation, but could not eat down into
the peaty, organic (and burnable!) soil because of all that moisture. Excellent burn conditions for the
pitcher plants! Thank you, DeSoto Forest Service staff!
As I have seen
in plants growing in very different circumstances in Okefenokee Swamp,
the first spring pitchers were erect. Interesting. I wonder why? Light intensity was high, so
etiolation wasn't the reason for the skyward pitchers.
Do the plants have some pre-programmed expectation that the first pitchers will have to fight through an overlying
layer of grasses? Ah, but in areas where the fire frequency regime is normal, it is likely that such grassy growth would
have been burned away during fall and winter storms. If the plants are trying to reach above flood waters, what about
the oft-stated theory that this plant likes being submerged, so it can capture aquatics? Fascinating.
Hey, here is a peculiar idea. Look at the similarity between the reddening bulbous pitcher heads and the flower buds, which
will soon open with red flowers. Could it be that
this plant is producing flowers and leaves which mimic each other in general
appearance (red, bulbous structures)? Why? To bring more pollinators to the flowers? Or perhaps to capture and digest the
tiny insects which might be attracted to the flowers, but which perhaps are not the primary pollinators of the plants?
Maybe this idea has some merit--I'll think about it more.
