Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:13:35 -0500 From: "Mellard, David" <dam7@cdc.gov> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg543$foo@default> Subject: Taylor County CP hunt
Jay L. and I went searching in Taylor County, Georgia (USA), for what some
call the ancestral Sarracenia rubra this past weekend. While I'm not sure
about Jay all I found was a bunch of scratches on my body from all the
brambles and bushes we had to wade through. We did run across a cluster of
Pinguicula growing along the raised banks of a tiny stream. These were the
only cp's we saw that day and to my surprise when we got back to the car to
check Don's book on location of US temperate pings, his maps did not show
any pings extending that far inland into Georgia.
For those not familiar with the Southern US, several temperate pings exist
along the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Alabama and further along the gulf coast. But Don's maps show them as being
fairly close to the ocean. Taylor County borders what we call here in
Georgia the fall line, which separates the sandy coastal plains from the
hilly, clay-based piedmont. The coast is probably another 2 to 3 hours by
speeding car. I plan to go back when they flower and then again when seed
are ready so hopefully the mystery will be solved if my timing is right.
I guess I should tell you that they look like lutea/primulaflora/caerulea
type, although I think Jay said that the leaves were not long enough for
primulaflora.
Jay and I talked about why people were calling Taylor County rubra as
ancestral. Anyone know how that name got started and whether or not the
difference in morphology warrants the distinction?
David
Atlanta
P.S. A bit of humor: as we were walking down the roadside, a car pulled
into the driveway of an abandoned house and a tough looking little guy got
out and asked, "Who y'all represent." Since Jay is technically a Yankee, I
took over, this being my part of the world and seeing how I can say y'all
without blinking an eye (or really thinking about it twice.) When I told
him we were looking for plants, there was a look of ...... well, you can
imagine.... somewhere being puzzlement and did I hear you right. Jay
produced his camera, I said I grew up in South Carolina, and we had a nice
conversation. He told us that the lady who owned the abandoned house had
been having trouble with a neighbor over land rights, and he was making sure
we were not part of the other side. I thought things were going real well
until he turned around to point out some mature white cedars, and I saw the
gun in his back pocket. The thought of running flashed and was quickly
discarded. Jay had the keys.
I got real busy proving we were looking for plants and pulled out Don's book
and showed him S. alata. The more we talked about plants or rather the more
we listened to the local dispute, the friendlier he became. I have his
phone number and an invitation to come back once I talk to the owner.
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