Little Shop of Horrors

While we are waiting to get the boat work finished, I decided to take the rental car over to a local nature preserve here in Wilmington, NC.  The Piney Ridge Nature Preserve is a park with trails, but there is also a unique garden within the park.  The Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden was something I just had to see.  Pengi also needed to get off the boat for a bit.

Pengi on the trail with some Pitcher Plants behind him

Even though it is winter time and many of the plants are somewhat dormant, there were still numerous plants taking advantage of the winter sun here in NC.  There were several types of pitcher plants still growing in the garden.

The Yellow Pitcher Plant

Most of the species of this genus (yellow pitcher plant) grow only in the southeastern United States.  They attract insects into their long tubes with nectar.  The insect becomes trapped by hairs and a slippery wall within the tube of the plant.   It is estimated that only 1% of the insects that venture into pitcher plants are actually captured by the plant.  That is not a very good rate of capture.  I am glad I am not a pitcher plant, I would starve.

Close-up of the top of the Yellow Pitcher Plant

The large hooded portion of the plant helps keep too much water from accumulating in the tube.

The most common carnivorous plant is the Purple Pitcher Plant.  It grows in cooler climates across the eastern US and throughout Canada. It does not have a large over-hanging hood like the Yellow Pitcher Plant.  Rainwater is intentionally collected into this plant's tube.   The pitcher plant mosquito actually breeds only in the water contained in this pitcher plant's tube.  Other insects that crawl or fly into the tube become trapped by downward pointing hairs on the wall.  They then drop into the water where digestive enzymes process the insect, releasing nutrients that the plant then absorbs.

Ohhhhhhhh Mister Fly, you are treading on dangerous ground.

This small moth is already upside down in the base of the tube.

Of course, the most exciting were the Venus Fly Traps.  The Venus Flytrap can only be found within a 75-100 mile radius of Wilmington, NC.  They cannot be found in the wild anywhere else in the world.  I think that is soooooooo cool.  They are also very particular about what they eat.  They eat mainly crawling insects like ants and spiders.  It is estimated that their diet is 33% ants, 30% spiders, 10% beetles, 10% grasshoppers, and less than 5% flying insects.  They actively trap their prey by  closing flaps that sandwich the insect between the flaps.  Once the insect is trapped, the plant hermetically seals the insect into the "mouth" where it was caught.  This then becomes a "stomach" so to speak where the insect is digested.  Digestion takes around 10 days.  The insect is reduced to a husk of chitin and the trap reopens and is ready for reuse.

A  fly trap with what looks like a insect chitin husk inside

There were also supposed to be Sundews in the garden.  I think the pink plants around the fly traps are the Sundews, but I am not sure.  They appeared to be dormant due to the chilly weather recently.

Sundews are perennial plants that can live up to 50 years.  There are over 130 species of Sundews and they can be found throughout the world.  This is unusual as most carnivorous plants live in a very small, distinct area in only one or two regions of the world.

So it was pretty fun to explore this unique garden.  I would love to see it in the spring or summer as everything would really be growing.  Maybe sometime I can make it back during that time of the year.