August 18-19, 2010: We knew we were heading to see the Giant Redwoods, but we didn't know what lurked in the bogs along the Smith River before we got there: Pitcher plants! That's right, carnivorous plants which grow in nutrient-poor, serpentine (the rock, that is) bogs where almost nothing else will grow. The pitcher plants hold water containing microbes, which eat the insects which get trapped, and the plants can then absorb the released nutients, especially the nitrates, which aren't available in the soil. The pitcher plants, also called cobra plants—can you see why?--have upper hoods with transparent sections which allow light in, a kind of sunroof arrangement, toward which the insects fly to escape, but they can't get out and evenutally succumb to the liquid lake below. Oh dear, save me from pitcher plants! I
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