Big Lagoon Bog Blog
Big Lagoon Bog Blog
Sphagnum hummocks and carnivorous plants in coastal Humboldt County? To celebrate the arrival of the proof, and to get out and see a few plants for the afternoon, John Sawyer and I went for a drive. I wanted to see club moss (Lycopodium sp.) so John suggested we go to Big Lagoon County Park. In a beautiful ocean-side ravine, surrounded by a thick forest of Sitka spruce, we found a plant world rarely seen this far south—a world that is only weeks away from what must surely be an amazing annual bloom. The marsh violet (Viola palustra) was just beginning to flower but other inimitable species were on the edge of bursting to bloom. See Dr. J.P. Smith's plant list for the park here, visit soon, and tread lightly on this rare landscape.
Round-leaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) growing on Sphagnum papillosum (?).
On the nutrient-poor sphagnum hummocks, a sundew entices nutrient-rich insects—with its bright red tentacles and sugary-sweet mucilage—to their untimely end. Once trapped, they slowly digest the insects with enzymes that extract nitrates and other nutrients.
Round-leaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) growing on Sphagnum papillosum (?).
On the nutrient-poor sphagnum hummocks, a sundew entices nutrient-rich insects—with its bright red tentacles and sugary-sweet mucilage—to their untimely end. Once trapped, they slowly digest the insects with enzymes that extract nitrates and other nutrients.
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