Darlingtonia californica 'Bonzai Island', Del Norte Co, CA
Mar 17, 2023 14:11:37 GMT -5
hcarlton, rmeyer, and 8 more like this
Post by meizzwang on Mar 17, 2023 14:11:37 GMT -5
Figured it's time to fully document this field trip report of some Darlingtonia in the wild. Here's a new site that hasn't ever been visited by carnivorous plant enthusiasts as far as I know! It's a somewhat disjunct population, meaning it is physically located away from the main darlingtonia fens found in the area. This is probably because this particular mountain range, which is absolutely massive and covers hundreds of square miles, doesn't have many suitable habitats for Darlingtonia.
In terms of habitat, this site is very similar to the ponds: sarracenia.proboards.com/thread/970/californica-ponds-del-norte-ca There is an underground water source that forms a small fen, and because of the topography of the gentle slope in this exact spot, water collects and forms little ponds! The site isn't very big because downstream, the slope is steep, and nothing grows past the "flatter' section of the seep. Above the seep, there is no running surface water! What's unique about this site is that the water carved out tiny islands in the middle of the ponds, some with stunted trees growing on them, which is why I named this site Bonzai Island!
When I found this site, I noticed the water was murky and there were lots of signs that bears had been there probably minutes before I found the spot. I did hear some running before I got down to the site, but I thought they were deer! Getting to the site was no fun, you had to bush whack through very thick shrubs that scratched the EF out of my legs! While I didn't see any bears once I got to the fen, I explored the site as fast as I could and quickly got out!
Genetics-wise, it's hard to tell if there are any interesting color forms at this site because it looked like it was heavily shaded for most of the day, but what I did notice was there were quite a few giants! In 10 years or less, this site will likely be in full shade, but the plants persist because every couple of decades, the forest burns and clears up the area, making it suitable again! In fact, a somewhat recent fire that happened probably in the past 5-10 years is the only reason I had any chance of finding this spot: it's in the middle of a dense, heavily forested area! The road leading to this area is overgrown by bushes and was washed away by a storm, I had to drive backwards for close to a mile to turn around! This spot is quite remote and the road isn't maintained.
Here's why the site is called Bonzai Island!
some giants up in this mix too!
Getting to the site was really tough, you have to bush whack through very thick shrubs to get there. As I was walking down, I heard some animals run away, and I totally thought they were deer, but turns out, they were bears! big trails in the grass, scat, bones, and murky water were all tell tale signs. I think the bears in this area are afraid of humans, probably because people shoot at them. I decided not to lug my 12 gauge with me down to the site due to the thickness of the area, but after seeing this, it made me a bit wary and I didn't stay at the site for very long:
something bit this head open!
It was pretty amazing to see these little islands in the middle of the pond with stunted trees and Darlingtonia growing on them! While it was tempting to do some "island hopping" I didn't venture onto the islands, since they looked quite fragile and I didn't want to jack the plants up:
A beautiful clone with a flat tongue:
I didn't realize it at the time, but after looking carefully at this photo there's Lilium pardalinum volmeri at this site too!
In terms of habitat, this site is very similar to the ponds: sarracenia.proboards.com/thread/970/californica-ponds-del-norte-ca There is an underground water source that forms a small fen, and because of the topography of the gentle slope in this exact spot, water collects and forms little ponds! The site isn't very big because downstream, the slope is steep, and nothing grows past the "flatter' section of the seep. Above the seep, there is no running surface water! What's unique about this site is that the water carved out tiny islands in the middle of the ponds, some with stunted trees growing on them, which is why I named this site Bonzai Island!
When I found this site, I noticed the water was murky and there were lots of signs that bears had been there probably minutes before I found the spot. I did hear some running before I got down to the site, but I thought they were deer! Getting to the site was no fun, you had to bush whack through very thick shrubs that scratched the EF out of my legs! While I didn't see any bears once I got to the fen, I explored the site as fast as I could and quickly got out!
Genetics-wise, it's hard to tell if there are any interesting color forms at this site because it looked like it was heavily shaded for most of the day, but what I did notice was there were quite a few giants! In 10 years or less, this site will likely be in full shade, but the plants persist because every couple of decades, the forest burns and clears up the area, making it suitable again! In fact, a somewhat recent fire that happened probably in the past 5-10 years is the only reason I had any chance of finding this spot: it's in the middle of a dense, heavily forested area! The road leading to this area is overgrown by bushes and was washed away by a storm, I had to drive backwards for close to a mile to turn around! This spot is quite remote and the road isn't maintained.
Here's why the site is called Bonzai Island!
some giants up in this mix too!
Getting to the site was really tough, you have to bush whack through very thick shrubs to get there. As I was walking down, I heard some animals run away, and I totally thought they were deer, but turns out, they were bears! big trails in the grass, scat, bones, and murky water were all tell tale signs. I think the bears in this area are afraid of humans, probably because people shoot at them. I decided not to lug my 12 gauge with me down to the site due to the thickness of the area, but after seeing this, it made me a bit wary and I didn't stay at the site for very long:
something bit this head open!
It was pretty amazing to see these little islands in the middle of the pond with stunted trees and Darlingtonia growing on them! While it was tempting to do some "island hopping" I didn't venture onto the islands, since they looked quite fragile and I didn't want to jack the plants up:
A beautiful clone with a flat tongue:
I didn't realize it at the time, but after looking carefully at this photo there's Lilium pardalinum volmeri at this site too!