Georgia Magazine - September 2024 - 35

The white-topped pitcher plant has white " windows " that attract insects,
especially wasps. When in bloom, the plants produce large, red flowers that can
grow up to 3 feet tall.
" Shorter with wider tube openings, they are burgundy with red veins, "
Koontz says.
Colquitt's 600-acre Doerun Pitcher Plant Bog is one of the best places
to see three species: hooded, parrot and yellow flytrap trumpets.
Sundews and bladderworts
Sundews feed on gnats, mosquitoes, bees and small wasps. Short
clusters of leaves, covered with tiny tentacles coated with a sticky
substance, grow in a rosette.
" Sundews are often called 'flypaper plants' because the tentacles
produce a powerful adhesive, " Koontz says. " The sticky droplets glisten in
the sun; that's how they got their name. "
The spoon-shaped leaves fold around the prey to immobilize it. The
process requires only about 15 minutes, but digesting the meal takes
several weeks.
Most sundews can reach 10 inches tall and grow along the ground in
bogs and wetlands. The white or pink flowers that bloom on their long
stems are self-pollinating.
Thirteen species of bladderworts can be found in lakes, ponds, coves
and wetlands in southeast Georgia.
" These rootless aquatic plants float atop the water, but it's the tiny
underwater bladder-shaped leaves that catch aquatic prey, including
mosquito larvae, small tadpoles and protozoa, " Koontz says. " All the action
happens below the surface. Each summer the plant's flowers attract
pollinators that make it possible to reproduce. "
Except for the purple bladderwort, these plants have yellow blooms in
the summer.
Threats to carnivorous plants
Georgia's carnivorous plants are listed as endangered, threatened,
unusual or of specific concern. In Georgia, they are protected at the state
level against poaching.
" Loss or degradation of habitat and poaching are the two biggest
threats to Georgia's carnivorous plants, " Koontz says. " In our state it is
The thread-leaf sundew is among the largest of the North
American sundews and has tentacles that reach up to
18 inches.
illegal to take them from the wild unless you have a
permit. "
More than 50 pitcher plants on a construction
site in Glynn County were relocated last year to the
Wormsloe State Historic Site near Savannah, General
Coffee State Park near Douglas and Laura S. Walker
State Park near Waycross. Pitcher plants, sundews
and bladderworts also can be seen in the
Okefenokee Swamp.
The Atlanta Botanical Garden maintains a large
wetlands area with multiple plant habitats.
" Our Conservation Display Garden was created
about 30 years ago to educate our visitors about
Southeastern plants that are threatened or
endangered, including pitcher plants and sundews, "
says Paul Blackmore, manager of the Conservation
Display Garden. " The pitcher plants are one of many
native plant species that ... make up the rich
and diverse flora of the bog garden. "
Seeing carnivorous plants can be difficult except
for in display gardens maintained by botanists.
" People are fascinated by the concept of
carnivorous plants, " Koontz says, " but ideally the
best way to enjoy them is in their native settings and
just take photos.
" Yes, there are nurseries that sell them-and
many of those are raised from seeds rather than
taken from wild populations. If these plants are
removed from the wild, the chance of survival is low,
because it's challenging to match natural habitat
conditions needed for the pitchers [and these other
plants] to survive. "
Pamela A. Keene is a Flowery Branch-based
freelance writer.
www.georgiamagazine.org 35
ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN
ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN
http://www.georgiamagazine.org
Georgia Magazine - September 2024

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