Post by meizzwang on Sept 21, 2013 15:31:10 GMT -5
Sarracenias in Washington Co, AL are becomming more and more rare, and very little is left from what originally existed. Within the past year, I've heard reports of a road widening project that wiped out huge populations of Sarracenia in this County. Historically, roadsides were "bush-hogged" which is a fancy Southern way of saying they were mowed, but in recent years, the cost savings behind using round up herbicide is catching up in these areas. All along the road, I saw sites that were sprayed with round up, and I was able to get some photos of S. rubra wherryi's that were dying from the spray. IT looks like a combination of mowing and spraying is being used in this area, and it's only a matter of time when they spray the whole thing. It only takes one application of round up to destroy an entire population.
S. rubra wherryi seems to be "tougher" than S. leucophylla, and seems to tolerate slightly drier areas (probably because they're so short and small, and don't drink up as much water). When found, they are plentiful, and they have a lot of nice shapes, colors, and forms.
S. rubra ssp. wherryi in the wild, photos taken 9/11/13. After seeing these in the wild, I realized this species is a lot more interesting than I originally thought:
Check out the substrate: it's mostly white sand with a little bit of silt mixed in. They tend to enjoy recently disturbed areas. Look at how dry this stuff is getting:
Check out the shape and olive green color on this clone:
Another shot:
A happy little clump:
Beautiful dark red colors:
Look at the tractor marks in the sand...these were run over in the past few months, but they didn't seem to care:
Roadside ditch habitat:
Some real beauties out there:
They tend to grow in patches:
Another shot:
Right by the side of the road:
So much diversity out there:
More photos to come!
S. rubra wherryi seems to be "tougher" than S. leucophylla, and seems to tolerate slightly drier areas (probably because they're so short and small, and don't drink up as much water). When found, they are plentiful, and they have a lot of nice shapes, colors, and forms.
S. rubra ssp. wherryi in the wild, photos taken 9/11/13. After seeing these in the wild, I realized this species is a lot more interesting than I originally thought:
Check out the substrate: it's mostly white sand with a little bit of silt mixed in. They tend to enjoy recently disturbed areas. Look at how dry this stuff is getting:
Check out the shape and olive green color on this clone:
Another shot:
A happy little clump:
Beautiful dark red colors:
Look at the tractor marks in the sand...these were run over in the past few months, but they didn't seem to care:
Roadside ditch habitat:
Some real beauties out there:
They tend to grow in patches:
Another shot:
Right by the side of the road:
So much diversity out there:
More photos to come!