Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 10:51:29 -0800 (PST) From: Barry Meyers-Rice <bamrice@ucdavis.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg542$foo@default> Subject: Florida trip
Species mentioned: U. gibba, U. olivacea, U. inflata, U. subulata, U.
purpurea, U. foliosa(?), D. brevifolia, D. capillaris, S. minor.
Hey folks,
I am back from a week-long conference in Orlando, Florida, land of pink
hotels, theme-parks, and habitat destruction! I am employed by a land
conservation organization, so part of my job included touring some nature
preserves. Tough work! I also had time to visit a few non-job related
preserves, and learned a great deal!
The number one lesson I learned was just how *crucial* frequent fire is to
maintaining the quality of wild land in peninsular Florida. Native
Floridians, listen up! The natural fire frequency in peninsular Florida is
just about five years, and when fire is suppressed, the shorter vegetation
rapidly clogs areas. One of the first habitats to be crowded out is where
our beloved carnivorous plants live.
If you've never visited inland, central, peninsular Florida, let me
describe the common habitat. It is flat. The ground is just about pure
white sand. The dominant shrub is a kind of palm called saw palmetto. This
plant normally does not get much taller than about 1 meter (unless fire is
suppressed). The overstory is a very sparse pine forest (perhaps 60%
coverage in the most dense areas, unless, of course, fire is suppressed).
Other woodies such as oaks pop up here and there. In low areas (low
meaning a local depression of just 10 cm or so) you'll find carnivorous
plants. Utricularia subulata and D. capillaris are the nominal plants
you'll find. In wetter areas you might find U. gibba relatively easily.
My first trip--a military base near Lake Wales--was pleasant. Drosera
capillaris and U. subulata were abundant near the bombing range.
(Ironically, US military bases have some of the finest remaining wild
lands in the US---the bombing and military exercises encourage frequent
wildfires!). At one site I found a pond filled with a large, flowering,
aquatic Utricularia---perhaps U. foliosa. I was unable to get to ID it
because to retrieve the plants for a closer look I would have had to reach
far over a partially submerged culvert to get the plants. This, by itself,
was not a problem. But the fact that several baby (45 cm/18 inch)
alligators were in the water filled me with anxiety. Mum alligators are
quite protective of their children, and I didn't want to get her
angry----wherever she was lurking.
Another site, near the University of Florida, was particularly nice
(thanks, Derek, for this tip!). The scrub-land was in terrible shape,
several years overdue for a burn, and the Sarracenia minor I found were
struggling to survive. A few ponds, however, were in great condition.
Wading around (didn't *see* any baby alligators in this one), I found
flowering U. inflata, U. purpurea, and U. gibba. The U. inflata was in
mass bloom, and I hope my photos (still at the lab) capture some of the
beauty of the site. Much to my astonishment, as I was trodding about
in the mucky pond, I found U. olivacea as well. While Derek had told me it
was in this area, the amazing part of the discovery was that I lucked out
to find it when it was not in flower. This plant is a tiny, tiny
Utricularia. After much searching, I did eventually find a single flower,
white, about 1 mm long. Very showy! :)
Gathering my camera gear and continuing on my trek (now looking completely
disreputable in my muddied pants and squelching boots), I found a nice
drainage ditch inhabited by more Utrics. Here the U. gibba was the
dominant flowering species---those who have seen this plant in the wild
know that it almost always flowers only if it is in a few cm of water.
But the real scene stealer here was the Drosera. I have never seen such
large specimens before; Clearly, the drainage, bright sun, and other
conditions were just right for them. Since this area was obviously
frequently mowed by landscaping people, competition by grasses etc was
reduced, and the carnivores were ecstatic. (Fire ants were also in
abundance.) The Drosera capillaris were intensely red, and nearly 6 cm
(2.4 inches) in diameter. Drosera brevifolia was also present, and they
were about 5 cm (2 inches) in diameter. They were so vigorous and sturdy
that at first I thought someone had seeded the site with D. spatulata
plants! Clearly, this plant can be much bigger than I thought. I have only
seen this plant once before in the wild, in South Carolina, and those
plants were shameful cousins of the monsters I saw in Florida. The ones
you might recall I mentioned we grow at UCDavis are but shadows of these
plants! While the day was generally overcast, for the few hours as I
explored this ditch site the sun came out. On queue, all the D. brevifolia
flowers opened for my camera. Thanks!
Packing up my camera, I headed for home. Wet, muddy, happy. I have to
admit, I can't think of anything that makes me happier than chasing
carnivores in muddy ponds. The occasional tick was plucked and discarded
without a care! I'll be picking up my slides from this Florida trip and
loading them on my site soon. I'll tell y'all when.
Cheers
Barry
------------------------
Dr. Barry A. Meyers-Rice
Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
Conservation Coeditor
barry@carnivorousplants.org
http://www.carnivorousplants.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:35:06 PST