Dieter Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Hi all, I just came back from a business trip to California. Having said that, I actually had 3 days to spend on my own which I used for a trip up to the north. Fernando and Bob showed some spring pictures from at least some of the sites I intended to visited, so there will certainly be an overlap there. I hope, you do not mind that. This first set of pictures will show shots from sites along a small river not too far out of Gasquet, California. As starter, I have two shots of the largest habitat (at least the largest, I know along this road). I visited this site 3 times in the 90's and my last visit was just about 10 years ago (that really makes me feel old...) and since them there seem to be some changes to this habitat. After more than 10 years, my memory may not be that correct, but I keep having the impression, that on my previous visits the major part of the darlingtonia plants were growing a few more meters up the road as I still have the memory of seeing the next bridge while standing between the plants. This may or may not be true, but the pictures show the the ground keeps sliding away, so it may be possible that the site I visited then is buried or slid away by now. On the next slide you can see that the sliding part is not merely coming from my imagination. The steepness does not show very well, but this piece of land with some darlingtonia on top will certainly hit the road in a couple of years from now. Now some pictures of plants from this site. As in the previous visits, there were plenty of seedlings and medium sized plants making it a difficult task, not to step on them. In contrast, there were relatively few large clumps of old plants. This was by far the largest site, but on careful inspection along the road some other plants could be found. The next is a shady spot at a small, steep creek (you could call if waterfall, if you wish) with lots of P. macroceras ssp. nortensis growing in sometimes extremely dark spots. The site Some plants: In most cases the seed pods were open or about to open. However, there was one very late flower still in business: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dieter Posted July 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 The third site again is a small creek, larger and much less steep than the previous. Here I found isolated clumps of Darlingtonia, but no Pinguicula. On this site it was quite appearent, that something was chewing on the young pitchers. Nearly no pitcher in development was still intact. As I found slime on pitcher of another site, I suspect snails to do the damage, but I could be wrong with that. More pictures from other sites will follow once I have the time to upload more. Cheers Dieter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Excellent report and photos Dieter, thanks for sharing Its alway great to see cp's growing happily in their natural habitat. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrAlmond Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Dieter...you said that seed pods were open so this means that Darlingtonia seed pods don't open in late autumn like Sarracenia ones..do you confirm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimscott Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Isn't a thrill to take a field trip and meet other hobbyists? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dieter Posted July 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Thank you for your nice comments! The open seed pod I mentioned above, were from P. macroceras ssp. nortensis. D. californica was far from producing ripe seeds. However, I found some seed pods from last year still holding a few seeds. However, old inflorescences can still be usefule as you can see here (well, number 3 may have been something different): But then, Darlingtonia hoods aren't a bad spot either... If a cobra lily doesn't do the trick, any other lily may be an alternative : Cheers Dieter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Rivadavia Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Hello Dieter! Great pics, I really enjoyed seeing what these plants look like in the middle of the summer, at some of the same locations I visited! Next time you're here for work, let's go out in the field together! ;) Best wishes, Fernando Rivadavia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dieter Posted August 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Next time you're here for work, let's go out in the field together! ;) Hi Fernando, I actually thought about sending you an email up front. Unfortunately, the final plans were set quite late and I decided therefore to go on my own. Next time, I will contact you. Promised! Cheers Dieter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottleroc Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Dieter I am so jealous. Great great photos especially the red cobra, what a beauty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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