CP Field Trip

ATLAS@JHUVMS.HCF.JHU.EDU
27 Aug 1992 18:19:30 -0500 (EST)

I took a little trip to the bog that the Md Botanist told me about. After
an hour of fruitless searching, I finally found it. The bog itself was
very small, and there are trees and shrubs encroaching upon it. But
there were a few clumps of S. Purpurea, some growing in the clayey muck, and
others growing a few precious beds of sphagnum. All the plants were quite
mature, with rosettes approx. 18-24 inches across. I noted that the pitchers
were all relatively devoid of insect prey. The thing that has me the most
concerned, though, is that I didn't see *any* seedlings or young plants;
maybe I missed them...but if not, it seems like a few years down the road,
all the Sarrs will be gone. :(

Today we went to Washington, DC to check out the Smithsonian Air & Space's
Startrek exhibit, but I sneaked a peak of the U.S. Botanic Garden. They
had two small bog exhibits with S. Minor, Purpurea, Flava, some VFT's, and
a Drosera Filiformis. The guy watering the plants said that they have
a botanist who is raising Nepenthes, but the gardens don't have the
room to display them.

About what time of the year do Sarr. seed pods ripen and split? It is very
tempting to go back to the bog when this happens, and take some seeds.
However, I am wrestling with my conscience about this...

doug