Long Island & Seemore's Carnivores- The Hunt for S. purpurea
Aug 22, 2014 14:13:51 GMT -5
yosemite, DirtyDivisions, and 3 more like this
Post by Jonathan Mejia on Aug 22, 2014 14:13:51 GMT -5
Hey folks!
Earlier this month, Dan (greenbeast) and I took a trip down to Long Island, to a known Sarracenia purpurea location, to seek out plants in the wild.
I had done research on the bog and the location before heading out. The bog itself used to be a cranberry bog before it was abandoned. Now owned by the state, other bog plants have moved in, including carnivores such as Drosera intermedia, D. rotundifolia, and Utricularia.
There is a hiking trail that goes all around the pond, and while the trail itself is maintained, there is a bridge that completed the trail (over a narrow portion of pond), that is not maintained.
For more information on this bog click here:
nynjctbotany.org/lgtofc/lgcranbg.html
The plan was simple, Dan, the designated driver was going to pick me up by the Queens Botanical Gardens, and we were going to head out to Seemore's Carnivorous Plant Greenhouse, and then to Cranberry bog preserve. I got to the Queens Botanical Gardens a bit early and decided to take a few photos there.
The gardens are guarded by stone dogs, so I decided to take a picture with them too. As you can probably tell, I was rocking my Sarracenia Forum T-Shirt attire.
Seemore Carnivorous Gardens has a greenhouse rented out from Hither Brook Nursery and Florist. In the Hither Brook Nursery there were some nice carnivorous plant displays. I just couldn't help but take some pictures.
We purchased some plants at the Nursery, but the owner of Seemore Carnivores was not there on the day we visited. While we were disappointed, we managed to get permission from Hither Brook to enter Seemore Carnivores greenhouse, under the condition that we don't touch anything. I didn't take photos in the greenhouse, as the owner wasn't there, and to be respectful.
I did snag a photo of the Sarracenia I brought that day though
Afterward we continued on out hunt to find Sarracenia purpurea in the wild.
There was a sign that headed the trail.
We knew we were close to the pond due to the sheer number of bugs assaulting us once we got out of the car. We all quickly sprayed OFF DEEP WOODS, and were good for the rest of the day. Again the trail was more or less oval shaped all around the pond, with short deviations toward the center that let you walk up to the waters edge.
We knew we were in Sarracenia territory when there was sphagnum lining the edge of the pond.
Soon after, we found our first signs of carnivorous plants. Drosera intermedia. Dark red among the brownish mud, and green water lilies. The Drosera populations all seemed to be flowering and in good health.
Considering the habitat, this wasn't too surprising. It is hard to notice, but there are yellow flowered Utricularia in the photo off to the left:
Many of the trees and shrubs were broken due to storms in the previous years. I found this small collection of Drosera near a stump. I had to take the picture
We continued along the trail, still enthusiastic that we might be able to find carnivores, but things started getting a little shaky.
The bridge was in total disarray. Unkept, and not in service, we backtracked along the trail to get to the other side of the pond.
Unfortunately, leatherleaf and bog grasses were very common. These plants tend to shade out any Sarracenia that might be in the area. greenbeast kept pointing out that this area was in bad need of a burn.
We did continue to find Utricularia and Drosera along the entire trail, once we cut in close to the pond.
Water lilies as well, and while I heard many frogs, and heard them jump out of our way, I was, unfortunately, unable to capture any with the camera.
Yeah, all we really saw were a lot of Utricularia and sundews
Along the trail we did find Cacti
Strange for NY, right?
There was also a structure which appeared to be an old mill. It was overgrown with long grassy bamboo type of plant. I tried to take pictures of it as best as I could.
More sundews
And even better, sundews in flower
I kept hoping to see Sarracenia, but even on some of the islands the brush was too overgrown.
We crossed a smaller bridge and continued our adventure.
GOTTA HEAD OUT TO WORK NOW, but part II will be posted up in a few days. a few more pictures to come.
Earlier this month, Dan (greenbeast) and I took a trip down to Long Island, to a known Sarracenia purpurea location, to seek out plants in the wild.
I had done research on the bog and the location before heading out. The bog itself used to be a cranberry bog before it was abandoned. Now owned by the state, other bog plants have moved in, including carnivores such as Drosera intermedia, D. rotundifolia, and Utricularia.
There is a hiking trail that goes all around the pond, and while the trail itself is maintained, there is a bridge that completed the trail (over a narrow portion of pond), that is not maintained.
For more information on this bog click here:
nynjctbotany.org/lgtofc/lgcranbg.html
The plan was simple, Dan, the designated driver was going to pick me up by the Queens Botanical Gardens, and we were going to head out to Seemore's Carnivorous Plant Greenhouse, and then to Cranberry bog preserve. I got to the Queens Botanical Gardens a bit early and decided to take a few photos there.
The gardens are guarded by stone dogs, so I decided to take a picture with them too. As you can probably tell, I was rocking my Sarracenia Forum T-Shirt attire.
Seemore Carnivorous Gardens has a greenhouse rented out from Hither Brook Nursery and Florist. In the Hither Brook Nursery there were some nice carnivorous plant displays. I just couldn't help but take some pictures.
We purchased some plants at the Nursery, but the owner of Seemore Carnivores was not there on the day we visited. While we were disappointed, we managed to get permission from Hither Brook to enter Seemore Carnivores greenhouse, under the condition that we don't touch anything. I didn't take photos in the greenhouse, as the owner wasn't there, and to be respectful.
I did snag a photo of the Sarracenia I brought that day though
Afterward we continued on out hunt to find Sarracenia purpurea in the wild.
There was a sign that headed the trail.
We knew we were close to the pond due to the sheer number of bugs assaulting us once we got out of the car. We all quickly sprayed OFF DEEP WOODS, and were good for the rest of the day. Again the trail was more or less oval shaped all around the pond, with short deviations toward the center that let you walk up to the waters edge.
We knew we were in Sarracenia territory when there was sphagnum lining the edge of the pond.
Soon after, we found our first signs of carnivorous plants. Drosera intermedia. Dark red among the brownish mud, and green water lilies. The Drosera populations all seemed to be flowering and in good health.
Considering the habitat, this wasn't too surprising. It is hard to notice, but there are yellow flowered Utricularia in the photo off to the left:
Many of the trees and shrubs were broken due to storms in the previous years. I found this small collection of Drosera near a stump. I had to take the picture
We continued along the trail, still enthusiastic that we might be able to find carnivores, but things started getting a little shaky.
The bridge was in total disarray. Unkept, and not in service, we backtracked along the trail to get to the other side of the pond.
Unfortunately, leatherleaf and bog grasses were very common. These plants tend to shade out any Sarracenia that might be in the area. greenbeast kept pointing out that this area was in bad need of a burn.
We did continue to find Utricularia and Drosera along the entire trail, once we cut in close to the pond.
Water lilies as well, and while I heard many frogs, and heard them jump out of our way, I was, unfortunately, unable to capture any with the camera.
Yeah, all we really saw were a lot of Utricularia and sundews
Along the trail we did find Cacti
Strange for NY, right?
There was also a structure which appeared to be an old mill. It was overgrown with long grassy bamboo type of plant. I tried to take pictures of it as best as I could.
More sundews
And even better, sundews in flower
I kept hoping to see Sarracenia, but even on some of the islands the brush was too overgrown.
We crossed a smaller bridge and continued our adventure.
GOTTA HEAD OUT TO WORK NOW, but part II will be posted up in a few days. a few more pictures to come.