The natural color for Darlingtonia in the winter and early
spring is mahogany, due to the cold and lower light temps.
I saw them like this in the bogs in Oregon. My guess is,
your buddies may have collected them from the wild. Bad
news if true. The good news is, these may have been growing
outside in cooler areas and were not collected in the wild.
I saw a giant mahogany cephalotus at the
U.C. Berkeley botanical gardens. It seemed to be doing
okay in muted light in the greenhouse, with bright sun
early and late in the day as the window it was next to
was clear but the ceiling was frosted glass. Again,
it was winter when I saw this.
---Steve