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Cobra Lilies (Darlingtonia californica)
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| You only live once ... So as I scroll down my list of Things to Do before one joins his ancestors ... a visit to the Oregon coastline was still calling my name. So I made this visit in late August of 2006. And I was not disappointed - the Oregon coastline is said to be the most scenic drive in the whole world. People on the westcoast are very friendly and very hospitable. We were greeted by so many friendly and helpful folks that I will definitely re-visit the Oregon and Washington coasts. And ... their clam chowder...is better than anything in Vancouver. One diner even boasted "Serves REAL seafood... NO Sushi... NO Yuppie food". Now that's my kind of eatery! As we wound down the rugged coast, it was interesting to see all the Tsunami warning signs. Seeing the Pacific Ocean slapping the rocky cliffs and sandy beaches really makes you feel so small and insignificant ... like a speck of sand in the universe. |
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Noisy Sea lions basking and pooping
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| Darlingtonia pitcher plants are found only in a very small spot on our planet. Their natural range is from northern California to southern Oregon. Known to be difficult carnivorous plants that grow in a high montane habitat (ie. on serpentine rock based surfaces, high up in the icy streams of the high mountains ... 1800+ ft above sealevel). And like many species with limited range, their natural habitats are always in threat of being destroyed. So thankfully, some far-visioned people had set aside some locales for protection. One of these is near the sea town of Florence, Oregon ...known best for it's spectacular sand dune beaches. Along the Coastal Hwy 101, just a few miles north of Florence, one can view these spectacular plants at Darlingtonia Botanical Wayside. Oh my, what eyecandy! A well built wooden plank path raised above the natural bog encourages visitors to view these beauties up close. And the pitchers were large and robust... with some pitcher heads larger than softballs, and growing over a meter tall. A friend also showed me a few other locales. As much as I would love to share the locations of other populations with everyone, I was informed that there are still way too many clowns out there who would dig up and make a lousy buck off these rare plants ...thus I had to swore to secrecy.
As you can see from the Google Earth map, this Florence, Oregon population of Darlingtonia is unique as it grows only few meters above sea level. During the days of our visit, the ambient air temperatures were over 30C (84 F). The ground temperatures were 26C (79 F) at the surface... and 22C (72 F) a few inches below the surface. This is really interesting as it has always been the belief that Darlingtonias required frigid waters for it's roots in order for the plant to survive. This information is probably true for most plants that originate from the high mountains of California.
The pitcher plants grew in both "swampy" peaty sphagnum soil, and even in "drier" (damp clay-like) and harder soils filled with pine and fir tree needle/peat soil. They grew mainly in the open clearings between the large conifers, which shaded the plants throughout different times of the day. The pH measured 4.6 to 5.3. One thing I can say is that the trees definitely served as a wind break to an otherwise fairly windy coastline (we were literally blown off our feet a few times!). There were a lot of seed heads...but I figure there should have been more, if weren't for something knocking them off (deer eating them?). A large number of the seed heads were dried up due to dessication, and the others were still unripe, so perhaps in mid September, the seeds would be ripe.
Depoe Bay sunset with happy Grey whale
I've prepared two slide shows of some of the photos I took during my CP pilgrimage to Oregon and to Washington. In addition, I've also prepared a small selection of some old Carnivorous plants grown for many years by my old friend, Tom Kahl. The last two slides show a few large planter bowls full of Tom's old growth Venus Flytraps with hundreds of flower stalks...with thousands of VFT seeds. Tom generously donates all of his seeds to various seed banks, including our old International CP Society.
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