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Here's a site that we didn't get shot at thankfully! Notice how the plants here are very sparse and not densely packed like at other sites. My impression is that this population is a lot younger than other places we visited. The good news is there were lots of seedlings and the site was definitely burned in the past year or two. When it's easy to walk through the field and the grasses aren't knee high, you know it's being managed/burned: Unlike the main rubricorpora site, this site had a mixture of variants, with S. flava var. rugelii being the dominant type: Another shot: if you look carefully, this field is loaded with Drosera filiformis: This field went on for days, we eventually had to stop exploring because it kept going on forever: And now let's examine some individuals, starting with the S. flava var. rugelii's. Gosh, so many clones out in this field that are stunning. This may be a common plant, but the slight variation from one individual to the next is endless: Skinny neck: This one has a huge lid. Notice how there's only one trap per growth point (I'm guessing all of these traps are from the same clone), despite the fact that this plant is getting blazing full sun. Perhaps the insect population was slim this year and last year, so the plant ran out of energy after the first trap was produced in the spring. I've seen this same growth pattern happen in cultivation as well: the plant will produce one gigantic trap and that's it. The next year, it'll produce a bunch small to medium sized traps, and the following year, it'll again produce one giant: Hard to tell the scale of things, but here's the same plant. This lid is gigantic: These plants barely caught anything this year. In previous years, they were filled almost to the top: Now what the hay is going on here? We determined it's something environmental because there were normal rugelii traps on this exact plant: Mechanical damage can cause plants to produce anthocyanins that they would otherwise not produce. I wonder if this trap cooked in the blistering heat one day, or got rained on so hard that there were microscopic lesions on the trap which caused the plant to do this? If so, why was there only 2-3 plants in this entire field that produced these red pigments on otherwise pure yellow plants? Still not sure what's going on here: But whatever it is, it's absolutely beautiful:

Several populations of "red flavas" exist in northwestern Florida: Liberty Co, Bay Co, Walton Co, Okaloosa Co, and Santa Rosa Co, FL (they probably are found in other counties as well). Flavas with red bodies and green lids are considered S. flava var. rubricorpora, whereas flavas with solid red bodies are considered S. flava var. atropurpurea. In Liberty Co and Bay Co, there are large populations of S. flava var. rubricorpora, but arguably, some consider individuals in these populations S. flava var. atropurpurea because at the time they were seen, the plant was solid red. Trouble is, in cultivation, amongst many different growers, it has been shown that many plants labeled "atropurpurea" start off with a green lid, and as the pitcher ages, the entire trap turns solid red. Are these rubricorporas, or are these atropurpureas? Interestingly enough, in Okaloosa Co, FL and Santa Rosa Co, FL, there are both plants that resemble S. flava var. rubricorpora and S. flava var. atropurpurea. The S. flava var. atropurpureas from these sites start off solid red. However, plants from these sites strongly resemble the rare S. flava var. atropurpurea found in the Carolinas. Do these "atropurpureas" from Okaloosa Co and Santa Rosa Co, FL occur naturally, or did someone plant them at these sites? In Santa Rosa Co, FL, Damon, Axel and I visited 2 different sites that were roughly 20 miles away from each other (ie.not within a reasonable distance to hybridize with each other) and we found red plants at both of these sites! Here's site #1 in santa Rosa Co, FL. This is an old pitcher from the summer, and the lid is still green, while the body is solid red. Arguably, this can be considered S. flava var. rubricorpora (although, genetically, I think this is plant is very different from the bay co and liberty co plants): Another shot: Close up of the lid: Same site, baby "S. flava var. rubricorpora" plant: Now, let's go 20 miles away to site #2, and here we have what appears to be S. flava var. atorpurpurea. Was the lid on this plant green before it turned solid red? I don't know, but my gut says no: Same plant, back view: This one seems to be back-crossed with S. flava var. rugelii: And at this same site, we found S. x catesbaei: notice the strong resemblance in color. Hmmmmmm: A group of S. flava var. "atropurpureas" with S. flava var. rugeliis: Now, let's take a tour of the famous site in Okaloosa Co, FL, where there's a very large S. flava var. atropurpurea population. Notice I'm using the word "atropurpurea" here with confidence: These plants have been verified to produce solid red lids on brand new pitchers. Here's a distant view of the largest population of S. flava var. atropurpureas in this area: Breath-taking beauty!

This is one of the most heavily veined individuals from the S. flava var. ornata 'black veins' Bulloch Co, GA batch. This group of individuals can get solid dark black veins on the top of the lid, and I suspect the veins on the body could turn black as well, although it doesn't do that for me (maybe it could under greenhouse conditions?) When the traps just open, the veins on the top of the lid are red, but as the traps age, the veins turn black. Interestingly enough, clone E in particular has always been so slow to grow and has not produced decent pitchers for 16 years! This is the first year that I've seen it in its fullest glory-the veins are incredibly dense. Have you ever seen anything with such intense veination, and no red pigments in between the veins? It might have taken so long to shine because this plant was neglected for a long time, but in any case, this thing is EXTREMELY slow growing. S. flava var. ornata 'black veins' clone E Bulloch Co, GA: