Brooker Creek Preserve Hiking Trip

[Wolfn]

Earlier today went on a nature hike at the local Brooker Creek Headwaters Preserve.

A wet field:

The ground was littered with Drosera capillaris (surprisingly with long leaves, which I first confused with D. Intermedia but no stems were visible, not to mention the leaf blade was more circular than spoon-shaped)

Hiking through the pine flatwoods:

Suddenly, and without warning, I find Sarracenia minor

One had a flower:

Flowers:

Tortoise (located not far from where I found the Sarracenia)

What surprised me most was that the Sarracenia were growing in mostly dry conditions. When I first arrived at the preserve, I went straight to the wet fields and marshy areas, but could only find Drosera in those locations. It was only when I went to the drier pinelands did I find the Sarracenia.

 

[jht-union]

Thanks for the pics and nice pics too!

Very interesting about the sarras, I went to a site in NC. In Site 1 most sarras were growing near the water or in fact roots were submerged and part of the plant submerged in the water as well while in another site just across site 1, the area was much more drier and definitely no water was present.
That was very interesting to see!
Mainly s. purpureas.... I have tons of pics I posted a while ago and a relatively short writing of my experience.

 

[joossa]

Very nice shots! You're so lucky to have seen Sarrs in the wild. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Wire Man]

The flower is a Sabatia species. I'd need a better pic to ID it, but it looks like Sabatia campanulata. Nice, big tortoise! The long arm capillaris look awesome.

It may look dry, but underneath the soil it's very, very wet. This is true to most flatwood habitats, in my experiences.

 

[Wolfn]

It may look dry, but underneath the soil it's very, very wet. This is true to most flatwood habitats, in my experiences.

I guess so. But for some reason, I was expecting the Sarracenia in the wetter parts of the preserve. Alot of the Sarracenia I came across seemed to be browning at the ends. I don't know if it was from dry soil or too much overgrowth from other plants crowding it out.


I desperately searched for Pinguicula. To my understanding, P. Lutea, Pumila, and Caerulea are found in the preserve but I didn't see any at all. Of course it wasn't flowering season so they would be near impossible to spot. I'll be going back to the preserve in the coming weeks. Where would I most likely find Pinguicula: in the wetter fields or the drier pinelands?

 

[Wolfn]

Any word on where I could find the Pinguicula?

 

[Thagirion]

Nice to see another Floridian here. I love that park. I haven't been in a long time. Used to go a lot and never saw any CP's. But back then I wasn't into them at all. I'll have to go and see if I can spot any. I didn't think there were any here only up in North Florida so this is cool. I think it is odd they are in the dry lands.