We spent some time learning about meadows in the morning and then ventured out to explore a real meadow.
There's something about lichen that appeals to me, that brazen lime green in the middle of the forest. Where did a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and algae get such chutzpah?
Part of the class involves a presentation on a topic relating to one of the subjects we cover. I volunteered for carnivorous plant bog day, and in my subsequent Google search discovered Darlingtonia californica, the California pitcher plant or cobra lily. For some reason, the more I researched it, the more I became intrigued.
Little sundews peppered the ground in between the pitcher plants. Carnivorous plants sometimes grow together because they require specific nutrient-poor environments like bogs. Carnivory is an inefficient adaptation of last resort, and so carnivorous plants often cannot compete with plants that subsist solely through photosynthesis.
I had given my presentation in the meadow, after we had scoped it out unsucessfully in search of pitcher plants. After I finished, some hikers walked by and asked if we were a class. I said we were, and asked jokingly if they'd happened to see any pitcher plants. "Oh yes," one replied. "Just about 100 yards up. One of the best showings I've ever seen."
And indeed, the clearing was filled with them, little green and red heads popping up everywhere. I was glad I asked.
Pitcher plants bloom for only a few weeks, so we were incredibly fortunate to find them at all. The plant sends up a single flower on a tall stalk.
It's a markedly unstudied plant. Many of the references I sourced said that no one has yet determined what actually pollinates them, though spiders could be major players. They do reproduce asexually, and so groups of them are often little clones.
The plant begins as a giant leaf that curls around to form a pitcher that can hold water.
The leaf curls into a hood that resembles a cobra head. It contains translucent windows that trick insects who wander inside in search of nectar. Insects fly up into the panes and fall down into the drowning liquid. Bacteria digest them and the plant takes in the nitrogen and phosphorous that it cannot retrieve from its environment.
A very happy me in the field of my darling Darlingtonia. I kind of matched the plants that day. Oops.
Tiny wildflowers hid in the marshy grass.
A little stream trickled through the meadow, keeping it moist.
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