As we navigated the roads back towards Mobile, I reviewed my location
information and decided in the interest of time to scrap some trips
John Hummer suggested---I hadn't researched those locations as
much and didn't have good enough maps. So I missed _S.rubra wherryi_.
But the choice bought us extra time for other spots on the itinerary and
so was worth it. Just east of Pensacola, we found a place Don Schnell told
me about. It was a large grassy savannah dotted with the kind
of _S.leucophylla_ I commonly see in collections---large plants with
plenty of deep red venation. In fact some were so red I suspected
_S.rubra gulfensis_ influence, but none of that plant could be found.
Also in the savannah was an enormous variety of _S.flava_. There were
veined forms, a few copper-lid, red tube/yellow lid, and plants bordering on
rugelii form but with veining. A very large number (perhaps 20%) of all the
plants were hybrids between these species. And what stunning hybrids they
were---deep red plants with green and red veins, white fenestrations,
various degrees of lid ruffling---stunning! In this savannah were also a
few other CP (_D.capillaris, U.subulata_) and the usual laundry list of
orchids. We spent a long time at this savannah, marvelling at the complexity
of the hybridization. Of course, the lot had a realty sign on it, and I
have since found out the area is slated for development in a year or so.
Sunset came and we went to dinner.
The next day we drove south towards Apalachichola. For those interested,
the famous Yellow River location has been demolished, and so is not worth
visiting. We passed through the town of Chipola to explore the brambles
(_Rubus spp._) and _Smilax_ for more _S.leucophylla_. Very pretty plants
that were much like the ones in the previous savannah. Some of the towns
in this part of Florida were very run-down. They and their inhabitants could
have been out of a historical civil rights film. As we drove through some
other nice areas on the way towards the park we encountered some roadside
ditches supporting _S.flava, S. purpurea, D.filiformis tracyi_, and
_U.inflata_. When driving down there you must keep one eye on the road and
the other eye on the roadside ditches!
In Apalachicola park itself Don Schnell had given me two places to stop.
They were the grassy savannahs I had grown to recognize, dotted with
the usual CP (_D.filiformis tracyi, D. capillaris,U.subulata) and a
nice set of _Sarracenia_--namely _S.purpurea, S.psitticina, and _S.flava._
We happened upon the _S.psitticina_ purely by luck---I noticed some
purps, and as I was looking at them saw some red flowers poking out of the
grass. Those _S.psitticina_ are tricky to find! The real zinger of the
savannahs, though, were the _S.flava_. They were of the _rugelii_ form,
and were arranged in huge dense stands ringing the edge of the savannah.
(If you don't know, the _rugelii_ form is an all-green plant, with a red
splash of colour on the column of the lid. This splash of colour is not
the result of venation, and there is no red venation at all on the
true rugelii plants.) I discovered something interesting on this trip.
_S.flava_ occurs at a location one of two ways. Either it is exclusively
_S.flava rugelii_ with no (or extremely few) other types of _S.flava_, or
it is everything but _S.flava rugelii_, like veined forms, copper-lids,
red tubes, all reds, etc., in a colourful mix. In these savannahs, the
enormous stands of _S.flava rugelii_, all looking identical, made for an
astonishing view. Scattered in the grasses, if you looked very carefully,
the occasional _P.ionantha_ could be found. This is a very rare plant and
it was nice to see it. At the center of each savannah was a muddy
depression populated with _P.planifolia_ and _U.resupinata_.
Of course the usual brew of orchids (including a few _Spiranthes) were
found.
I thought it interesting that when _S.leucophylla_ was in the area,
there were many hybrids with _S.purpurea_ and _S.flava_, but when
that plant was absent, as in Apalachicola, the hybrids disappeared
with it.
After playing in the area, we hopped back in the car (stopping for the
occasional interesting sight---like a ditch filled with _U.cornuta_)
and just explored the rivers until sunset.
Next: North to the Carolinas