D. californica 'The ponds' Del Norte Co, CA
Nov 8, 2013 12:22:52 GMT -5
nagle3092 and liveoak like this
Post by meizzwang on Nov 8, 2013 12:22:52 GMT -5
I revisited "the ponds site" in Oct. 2013 with my good friend Rob Co, and compared to 2010, it looked almost exactly the same! The site was overall very healthy just as it was 3 years ago, although unlike other sites, it doesn't seem like the plants are getting any bigger. Truth is, they probably are, but it's hard to tell because the clumps are already so big.
One thing we observed in 2010 was how diverse the population is at this site. There were various shapes and color forms observed, and for the most part, the traps were decently large here. However, a good portion of this site is growing in a lot of shade (it has been for years), and the surrounding trees are becoming very dense. Surprisingly, like at many other sites, Darlingtonia does relatively well in lower light levels, and many of the plants in pure shade had gigantic traps! I noticed a lot of the plants in the shade were battling powdery mildew. Even in almost pure shade, there were dense colonies of plants, although I suspect they'd do a lot better if fire came through to clear up a portion of the site.
Photos below were taken 10/12/13. Ever wonder why this site is called the ponds? Notice how crystal clear the water is:
There's Rob in the background:
A good portion of this site gets almost full sun:
Impressive tongues:
Some giant traps:
Another shot:
Tongue shape on this one is completely different from a few pics above:
As you can see, this portion of the seep is starting to become shaded out by the surrounding vegetation. However, the plants are doing very well:
Even so, the part shade environment can still bring out some colors:
Crappy shot, but one side of the trap is red:
Pretty bizzare how there's just a strip of red on this one growing in part shade:
A fork-shaped tongue:
Another shot of the plants growing in the thick brush-it was not easy getting to this part of the seep:
Some more neat, curly tongues:
and some flat ones:
Last but not least, the true measure of the health of a population: seedlings. These were in part shade. It's hard to see, but there's also D. rotundifolia in this shot:
One thing we observed in 2010 was how diverse the population is at this site. There were various shapes and color forms observed, and for the most part, the traps were decently large here. However, a good portion of this site is growing in a lot of shade (it has been for years), and the surrounding trees are becoming very dense. Surprisingly, like at many other sites, Darlingtonia does relatively well in lower light levels, and many of the plants in pure shade had gigantic traps! I noticed a lot of the plants in the shade were battling powdery mildew. Even in almost pure shade, there were dense colonies of plants, although I suspect they'd do a lot better if fire came through to clear up a portion of the site.
Photos below were taken 10/12/13. Ever wonder why this site is called the ponds? Notice how crystal clear the water is:
There's Rob in the background:
A good portion of this site gets almost full sun:
Impressive tongues:
Some giant traps:
Another shot:
Tongue shape on this one is completely different from a few pics above:
As you can see, this portion of the seep is starting to become shaded out by the surrounding vegetation. However, the plants are doing very well:
Even so, the part shade environment can still bring out some colors:
Crappy shot, but one side of the trap is red:
Pretty bizzare how there's just a strip of red on this one growing in part shade:
A fork-shaped tongue:
Another shot of the plants growing in the thick brush-it was not easy getting to this part of the seep:
Some more neat, curly tongues:
and some flat ones:
Last but not least, the true measure of the health of a population: seedlings. These were in part shade. It's hard to see, but there's also D. rotundifolia in this shot: