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Green Swamp and Boiling Spring Lakes North Carolina

Crissytal

What is and what should never be
On Friday July 17, 2009 I was finally able to visit carnivorous plants in the wild. I went with my father and TF's very own Ozzy. Ozzy is an awesome guide!! We were shown an area in Boiling Spring Lakes as well as Green Swamp. Of course it was rather hot, but not uncommon for this time of the year. The humidity wasn't as bad as it could have been and we had a nice breeze blowing (on occasion). As most of you already know, we got to encounter some of North Carolina's wonderful wild life and even carried a few hundred back with us, chiggers. My father and I still had a great time and hope to go back early next year.

We encountered a few species of Drosera, Sarracenia, a Pinguicula (two sites, most likely the same species; no flowers present for ID), VFTs, and aquatic Utricularia.

I've picked out a few pictures from each area. They all can be seen here along with some wild alligators: http://crystalscarnivores.com/gallery.html

Green Swamp:

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Boiling Spring Lakes:

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Thanks for looking,
Crystal
 
That's a big thumbs up. Seems like you had a good trip.
 
the soil looks really DRY... except for that one pic. was it really as dry as it looked?

oh yeah, very cool btw! im jealous! at least i get to see darlingtonia here
 
The soil was very sandy in Boiling Spring Lakes. It was much wetter there then in Green Swamp. Green Swamp isn't actually a swamp, it's just the name.
 
Darn! I SO wish i had made it. it looks awesome.
 
Very cool trip :)
 
ahhhhh very nice, beautiful plants

I'm envious... but you and Ozzie can keep the chiggers

I feel a BBC/PBS special and coffee table book in the works

"The Private Life of Carnivorous Plants" by
Lady Crystal Attenborough and her trusted bush guide Ozzie

:p
 
Nice Crystal! I wish my Sarrs were that colorful:(
 
  • #10
I wonder what species of Pinguicula that is?
 
  • #11
nice i still need to find cp's here in MD
 
  • #12
Seems like you had a very nice trip. :) It seems to me that everyone's seeing CPs in the wild now. :p
 
  • #13
Thanks for the comments guys. It was a very cool trip.

I don't know about any BBC or PBS specials nor any books Av :p. It was very neat though.

As far as what species of Pinguicula, I have no idea. It could be any that's native to the area, they all look the same to me except for the flowers. We were too late in the year and missed the flowers.

Crystal
 
  • #14
As far as the wetness factor: I saw pics on SarraceniaNW that showed a large patch of Darlingtonia on a hill side with no stream, fountain or visible water. Blew me away. There has to be something either seasonal or more than meets the eye. What has me intrigued is in the 23rd photo it shows a Drosera surrounded with a white substance. anyone have any idea if they are distillates or mold/fungi?
 
  • #15
The local name for the white substance is sand. But I shouldn't be a snot about it because I wondered what I was seeing the first time I saw photos from that area. I'm not used to sand being white. Great photos, by the way.
 
  • #16
First I want to say to awgaupp, you should have came, you missed a great trip. I would have been glad to share the over 500 chiggers I had with you. The white moldy stuff in the pic is sand. It's really common in this area. It's the same as the silca sand you buy to put in your cp's.

The soil is dry, we are just coming out of a historic drought. We've had some rain this year but we are still low. Even when it's wet, most of the cp's here will not be standing in water. The top layer of soil seems dry but it's moist when you dig down more than an inch.


The ping could have been a Pinguicula caerulea but I believe those are Pinguicula lutea in that area. They are impossible to tell apart when not in flower. Both species are there but from memory, I think that one was a P.lutea.

To continue the chigger story, Like I said I had over 500. They were from my eyeballs down to my feet. I finally was almost rid of them a week later when I went into the woods to help the local police find some non-cp plants. I added about 30 more to my collection, which was a breeze compared to the week before.

Crystal thought she was getting a deal when I told her I charge by the chigger. I'm sure she was shocked when she saw the bill, $5 per chigger. Good thing for her I'm willing to finance.

AV send a camera crew and I can promise that I can give you some A+ entertainment.

--
 
  • #17
Thank goodness for financing. Now I'm in debt. You can't charge me for the additional 30 you received on your own. So please remove those from my bill ;).
 
  • #18
Actually, i would come, but my dad decided not to.
 
  • #19
  • #20
Hi all,

This is awesome and it looks like yall had fun. For Labor Day weekend, I'm taking time off from rotations to go visit the Green Swamp/Carolina Beach State Park too! Potential spots were North Carolina, Oregon, Michigan, Maine, or back to Jersey where I grew up, but just yesterday, we decided NC would be most affordable. I encouraged my gf to call up the park to ask them about the status of the plants and they told us they're most visible May~July but we can still see them if we know what to look for.

Pictures definitely going to be posted once I stop being lazy.

Johnny
 
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