December 7, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie
I did not know what a pitcher plant was before today. Pitcher plants are carnivorous insect-eating plants with flowers shaped like pitchers. The only insect-eating plants I have ever seen or known of previously are Venus Flytraps. We used to have these when we were kids. I loved watching a fly get trapped and closed inside the plant. Is that so horrible?
White-topped pitcher plants such as the ones in the photo above and below have a small pool of water in the bottom of the leaf stalk or pitcher.
Insects are forced down into the water by stiff angled hairs inside the pitcher. Bacteria in the water then decompose them so the plant can absorb the nutrients from the dead insect.
The Weeks Bay Pitcher Plant Bog and Kurt G. Wintermeyer Nature Trail is a nature preserve that offers visitors an easy boardwalk for a peaceful walk through a wooded bog back to the water of Weeks Bay. It was windy and chilly, but a beautiful day for a walk through the woods.
I was hoping to find more butterflies or birds as we walked through the woods. Migratory birds are often found here, and butterflies are attracted to the many flowers, but not today. The only life we saw was a few dragonflies.
Most of the plant species found in these bogs are rare. White-topped pitcher plants and purple pitcher plant
s are common here. I would love to come back in the spring when they are blooming and everything is coming alive.
Pitcher plant bogs are an exceptional ecosystem. The soil is nutrient-poor and moist. Only these special unique types of plants can flourish here. The bog is also dependent on regular forest fires to prevent shrubby vegetation from overtaking the area and drying up the moist soil.
Pitcher plant bogs are an endangered habitat. Rural development, fire suppression, and draining the flooded areas is threatening the bogs. Other rare plants such as orange milkworts, bog buttons, toothache grass, yellow-eyed grass, sundews, and white-topped sedges are also in danger.
Bog habitats are quickly disappearing throughout the country. More than ninety percent of bog acreage along the Gulf Coast has already been destroyed or severely damaged. This makes the Weeks Bay Pitcher Plant Bog rare and more valuable with each passing day.
Thanks for coming along on our travel adventures. Have you ever seen a Pitcher Plant Bog?