Wetland Plants

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Written by charlie

Category: Wetland Plants

Published: 08 February 2015

Created: 06 February 2015

Last Updated: 08 February 2015

The Venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula), is one of the best known wetland plants due to its carnivorous appetite and appearance as Audrey II in the cult classic, "Little Shop of Horrors". It is a marvel of evolution - being earthbound and immobile in nutrient poor soil, how else can a plant obtain nutrition? From wayward insects. The selective pressures must have been so strong that a plant, over the course of millenia, developed an trap, actually a modified leaf, which can clamp shut in a tenth of a second on a hapless ant, fly or beetle plonking a trigger hair ever so gently. Lacking a proper gut, the mouth of a the flytrap secretes digestive juices, dissolving the insect over the course of a week, fortifying the plant. Its native habit is remarkably small, and shrinking. It is found only within a 60-mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina.
Carnivorous plants unique abilities did not escape Charles Darwin's attention, he wrote the book, "Insectivorous Plants" largely about the Sundew plant, a cousin to the flytrap, in 1875. The book, still used as a reference, can be downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg here.
Working in a greenhouse as a teen, flytraps were always sold in miniature terrariums, and I brought a few home over the years but was never was successful in keeping them alive for long - my mistake was feeding them small amounts of ground beef, which promptly rotted, killing the stalk. Looking back, I probably should have put a dead ant or two in the maw of the venus fly trap instead. The fly traps I purchased were likely poached, it seems many of them are, to be sold as greenhouse novelties. Since then, flytrap poaching has increased, to the point that the North Carolina legislature just passed a law declaring that poaching Venus fly traps is now a felony, rather than a misdeminor with a paltry $50 fine. In January 2015, poachers were caught redhanded with almost 1,000 Venus fly traps, and charged under the more stringent law. Seymour would be proud.

Further Reading:
The Mysterious Venus Flytrap
Video of flytrap closing
North Carolina cracks down on Venus flytrap poachers

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Written by charlie

Category: Wetland Plants

Published: 11 November 2014

Created: 11 November 2014

Last Updated: 11 November 2014

I started writing this post about rose hips, the fruit of the rose plant that contains the seeds, which is most visible after the flower loses its bloom. Many are familiar with rose hips being used for tea and jelly, and being a great source of Vitamin C--- but apparently the fine hairs found in the hips is used to make commercially available itching powder? Who knew? Awesome! I should have saved this post for April Fools Day!

The swamp rose, (Rosa palustris) as its name implies, is a rose that lives in areas that are consistently moist, swamps and along side stream beds are favored locations. It can even tolerate shade.   For anyone who has grown roses, these conditions are in direct conflict with all of the freely given advice about cultivated roses - which are known to dislike "wet feet" despite their requirement for large quantities of water, good drainage and full sun. However, like its ornamental cousins, it is susceptible to fungal issues, including blackspot, the bane of rosarians.

Swamp roses grow up to 7 feet tall and generally bloom once a year, like an heirloom rose, and, in case you were wondering, develop rosehips for the prankster interested in itching powder.  They can be purchased at native plant nurseries or viewed in their natural habitat east of the Mississippi.

Additional Reading and Sources:

USDA Plant Guide

Unlike Other Roses Swamp Roses like Wet Feet

Rosa palustris