Pitcher Plants...and more

Several weeks ago, my niece, Rhonda, and I had walked through the Cranberry Glades, near her home in Marlinton, West Virginia. In the Cranberry Glades were a number of interpretive panels describing the flora and fauna there. Pitcher Plants were supposed to be there, and we both were interested in seeing them, but neither of us noticed them.

A day or so ago, one of my Flickr (the web-site where I post many of my photos) “contacts” posted several photos of Pitcher Plants that were taken at a sphagnum bog near Ogletown, Somerset County. That’s only fifteen miles from my home – and I here I was looking for them in West Virginia!

I e-mailed John, who now lives in Altoona, and he was kind enough to give me turn-by-turn directions to the bog. He was originally from Windber, and his father still lives there. In fact, his father went so far as to take a drive out to the bog, just to check on the street signs for me. The thing is, up on the mountain roads, there were no street signs. But, the directions he gave me were perfect, and I easily found the bog. Thanks again, John!

Not only were there tons of Pitcher Plants there, there were all kinds of other neat things, too. As I squatted down beside a tiny stream in the bog to take a photo of a flower, I noticed a quick movement beside me. As I turned to look, a small snake slithered up onto, and over, a log. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of it. The multi-colored sphagnum moss was just beautiful, too. The trees on the mountain top were starting to show tinges of orange and red, and with the temperature at sixty degrees, it felt a bit like fall. Just as I was leaving the bog, I noticed a beautiful spider in its web.

This is another place to which I’ll definitely return, especially in other seasons. After all, you’d think there would be some dragonflies out here for me to chase.

This is one small patch of Northern Pitcher Plants. They are insectivorous (insect-eating) plants, that collect small pools of water in their pitcher-shaped leaves. Insects are attracted to the pitchers, and are forced into the water by a lining of stiff, downward-pointing hairs. There a narcotic kills them, bacteria begin to decompose them, and enzymes convert them into usable nitrogen. I'll post a few more photos of these in my next post.

This is the flower (a bit past its prime, I believe) of a Northern Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea). The "pitchers" are the leaves of the plant, and the flowers grow up from amongst the leaves on stalks that are one- to two-feet tall.

This is some of the sphagnum moss in the bog. This species of moss likes acidic soil and is found in wet and boggy areas. It is generally found growing in thick, dense clumps. Often, as is the case in this bog, it grows so close that it forms a cushiony "bog mat" that floats on top of the water. In this small area the color ranged from almost white, to gold, to green, to pink, to rose. It was very pretty! (If you click on the above picture, you can see the detail a bit better.)

Speaking of very pretty, how about this guy? It's a Black-and-yellow Argiope spider (Argiope aurantia). The zig-zag pattern is always a part of their web design.