Our visit to the Green Swamp Preserve was a special one. I had never seen a Venus Fly Trap in its natural habitat. It didn't take long to spot one. Once you knew what you were looking for, there were dozens in this small area.
Can a Venus Fly Trap count? Look closely at the structure of the plant. A clam shaped trap has a series of sensitive hairs. When a hair is contacted once the plant prepares to close its trap but only after a second contact is made within about 20 seconds. If that occurs, the trap closes. Then the digestive process does not start until 5 more stimuli have occurred. All of this insures that the plant has caught some prey and is not expending energy unnecessarily.
It takes about 10 days to digest its prey. At that point the trap is reset.
Just a little over 3 months ago, on Dec 9, 2020, this area was part of a controlled burn. It is coming back in a very vibrant way.
Sundew is a bit smaller than the Venus Fly Traps but has a very colorful personality.
There is a trail here but it turns to swamp which we were not prepared for.
Sunbonnets - sometimes called Pineland Daisy
Late year's Pitcher plant remains
Flowering Pixiemoss
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