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It's about time! CPs in the wild! 56k warning

PlantAKiss

Moderator Schmoderator Fluorescent fluorite, Engl
It has taken me forever to process these photos and get them uploaded. Then I got busy with umpteen other pressing issues. But I thought while I was uploading some pics for the auction, I'd take this chance to finally post some of the photos I took when I got a tour by Ozzy of the Green Swamp back around the end of January. Not the best time of year to go CP hunting, but it didn't matter...I had a blast! I saw tons of plants, it was absolutely beautiful, not terribly cold and is worth the trip down in any season.

Since Ozzy is offering another Swamp tour in the NASC auction, I thought these photos might encourage people to take or MAKE the opportunity to go. I can't begin to tell you how amazing it was. You don't even need to be a CP lover. If you just like tromping around outdoors, you'll love it. I won't post ALL my photos, but you'll get the idea. The photos are not all from the same location. We went to many different areas.

And sooo...a-CP-hunting we did go!!

This is one of the roads going in to the Green Swamp...and its wildy beautiful everywhere you look!

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We get out of the car and wooops! What's that? Purps!

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A pine savannah--there is lots of stuff hiding in these grasses! One minute you are on on firm ground, the next your foot has sunk down in water. Spaghnum is all over. Sarracenia are tucked here and there and sundews too.

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Speaking of sphagnum...there's lots of green and....there's stunning red!

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Ooooh...found a hybrid!

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Look at that color wouldya! Stunning!

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And let's not forget those 'dews! Again, beautiful color for the roundandstickiums nestled in near-white sand. In some places you had to be very careful where you put your foot...or you'd step on a sundew. Yeah, those things you normally only see in a POT.

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The landscape is beautiful. The footing is watery to boggy soggy. I believe this area was outside of Green Swamp boundaries. It was a corner lot at an intersection. We did find Sarracenia here.



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Ozzy and my friend Stephanie hunting for VFTS. Ozzy said there used to be lots of them. But we couldn't find any. What we did find were some holes.... :( Very sad to see.



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More pics coming....in next post....
 
I don't know what I did, but I clicked on something and lost everything I had done in this post. Dang. So let me do this again...

Anyway...we did find something....FIRE ANTS! :D They were tiny! Their mounds were everywhere!

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So...I wanted the experience. I picked some up and put them on the back of my hand and smacked 'em. They didn't like it. Ow! While the pain wasn't TOO bad, I could see where getting stung by a bunch at one time could be really bad. What I didn't know at the time but learned much later....is that the stings swell, itch and form pus-filled sores that leave scars. lol They also travel...had to run to the bathroom during lunch to remove a transgressor from up in my jeans... I talked Ozzy and Steph into trying them out...

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Ok...back to the plants. We continued hunting for VFTs and hit the jackpot on a roadside ditch near some woods. Is that fantastic or what??

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After gawking at seeing VFTs growing willy nilly on the ground...NOT in a pot...we moved on. We went to The Nature Conservancy's property. Look at how beautiful this is--pristine pine savannah! The trail was at times quite wet and I finally got "wet shoe" here. But it was so beautiful it didn't matter.

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Shy little rubras!

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And one of the most exciting and unexpected finds here.... PINGS! Most likely Pinguicula cerulea. They were COOL...hidden beneath the grasses for the most part.

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This was a monster clump of purps located on private property. His land is loaded with Sarracenia. NASC has been working with the land owner to help him ensure the plants can SAFELY remain on his property with the house and dock building and lawn preparations. We believe the plants to be safe and their status will be monitored.

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I'll end with a 'dew just because...I love 'em. :)

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As you all can see, even in the dormant season there is much to see and do in the Green Swamp and surrounding areas. So you can only imagine what it must look like NOW! Try to make it there if you can. Ozzy makes an excellent and knowledgeable tour guide. And...we actually survived it without any serious damage (except for those fire ants stings...).

-PAK
 
Great pics PAK! I've yet to see a cp in the wild, and can't wait to do so! Did you notice the dew in the ping pic?

Max
 
CP's and Fire Ants? PAK your my new favorite mod!
 
Awesome! Great photo-tour. I love the fire ant experiment! Thanks for sharing that. I'm with Capslock - I look forward to seeing CPs in the wild.

xvart.

edit: oh yeah, and that mass of purps is awesome! I love pictures of big clumps of purps.
 
At least when you got stung it wasn't between your fingers. It was so annoying.
 
Caps, yeah...I saw that. Cute lil' bugger isn't it? I love baby 'dews cause their new leaves look like little curled up fists.

PAK your my new favorite mod!

YAY! At last! lol Does that mean I can retire now? hehe

Xvart...thanks for putting the link in Ozzy's Swamp Tour auction listing. I was going to do that but didn't have time.

Ant, I did find some stings in places I didn't know about. I kind of liked the critters but I can see how much of a pest they are because they are EVERYWHERE! We saw countless ant hills and each hill had a gazillion ants in it.

Unfortunately a lot of my pics were blurry. I had a lot more VFT shots that didn't come out.
 
Nice pics, CPs look great in the wild. I myself have went to a valley of Darlingtonia a few times before. I have some pictures if people want to see them.
 
  • #10
Xvart...thanks for putting the link in Ozzy's Swamp Tour auction listing. I was going to do that but didn't have time.

No problem. Hope it helps spark some bidding!

xvart.
 
  • #11
PAK,
Great pics - thanks for sharing!!

Fire ants - while it was good for you to have the 'experience' of fire ant anger - for the 'real' experience, you've got to accidentally stand in one of their piles and casually have a conversation w/ one of your friends. By the time one of them decides to sting you, it will have a few hundred / thousand of it's buddies in close proximity. When one stings, it sends a message to all of the others to get busy and do the same. That is the true fire ant experience! Now, go back & do it the right way! :0o:

Also, you might want to check the ID on your S. alata, I suspect that it is S. rubra ssp. rubra ...
 
  • #12
Oooops...I MEANT rubra. lol I DO know the difference but I do that almost every time. Its like CP dyslexia. :blush: I always say alata instead of rubra. I'm glad someone was paying attention and caught that. lol

Umm...don't think I'd want to STAND on a mound. We did kick some open and they just swarmed out. I expect that's how I had a few get up my jeans. Prolly got onto my shoe and I didn't know it. I think I ended up with about 5 stings. That was enough for me!

KruegerSC4...yeah, everyone here loves pics so you should post some. :)
 
  • #13
Great pictures PAK! Thanks for taking the time to post them. I love those Purps:-O !
 
  • #14
Here's a few of my photos from seeing Darlingtonia in the wild. I've been there three or four times. Should I make a new thread with the rest of the pictures?

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  • #15
WOW. I don't mind if you leave them here but if you want to make a new topic, that's fine too. Up to you. :)

and....WOW. :0o:
 
  • #16
Alright, I have a few more pictures, might as well make a new thread.
 
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