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I just got back from a road trip with my good friend Rob Co of The Pitcher Plant Project, and we had the opportunity to see cobra plants in the wild! This was the very first time Rob has ever seen any carnivorous plants in the wild, and it was exciting to see his reactions to the various places we visited.

I had visited this exact red darlingtonia site last year, and in 2010, and they are consistently red year after year after year. There are also green plants at this site, which indicates the red is a genetic factor. While I have seen red plants at other sites, I've never seen any other site that contains such a dense population of pure reds. Indeed, this is quite a treat to visit, and it definitely required some off-road vehicles to reach.

Here's D. californica 'RED' at the Alpine Farms site in del Norte Co, CA. It's nick-named alpine farms because a huge pot grow was found just above this seep many years ago. While we were driving up the road, there were people loading their guns, probably hunting some animals, but you never know:

Red plants are usually a minority in most populations I've visited, but these reds were quite common at this site:

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not just colorful, but elegant:

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Zoomed out a little bit:

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The color is just awesome:

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No, these aren't photoshopped or altered in any way: this is their natural color:

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Another shot:

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bright red tongue:

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dense populations:

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And here's the seep:

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Edited by meizwang
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Absolutely stunning !

Imagine pitching a tent and waking up to that view :smile:

I thought the same thing, but boy was I wrong!

At this site, it would be tough to find a spot to camp...it's tough to tell from the pictures, but this population is on the side of a cliff! We saw signs of bears and mountain lions everywhere, and believe me, I've camped out by myself in Darlingtonia country once, and NEVER again will I do that! In the middle of the night, I heard animals walking around the tent, and there was wind as well, which made it sound like someone was hitting the tent with their hands! I had the worst nightmares because all the sounds created the most creepy dreams. When the wind died down, it was dead silent, and you could hear even the smallest of insects moving in the leaves. Something big was definitely circling my tent, but I wasn't about to test my luck. I had a gun for protection, but believe me, it still doesn't make you feel safe. I left the site at 5am in the morning before the sun rose!

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  • 1 year later...

some new photos from this site, taken 10/11/14: First photo is one of my favorite shots:

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You can see the red colors at this site are genetically based:

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unbelievably red:

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  • 4 weeks later...

It is mostly genetics.  The physically damaged areas also shows red color, but of course you can see the damage too.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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