Bear Lake Recreation Area, Blackwater River State Forest: 4-10-18

Crow-Poison

This plant is in the lily family and is found in central and north Florida in moist pinelands and swamps.  The root stock is poisonous.

White-top Pitcher Plants

Pitcher plants are perennial plants with groups of leaves modified into traps or pitchers.

These plants have tubular leaves with lids or hoods at the top that secrete nectar to attract prey.

Once insects are on the lip of the pitcher, they can slip on the waxy opening and fall into the plant.

Hairs on the inside of the trap point downward, preventing insects from drawing back up.

These plants also secrete digestive enzymes and fluids in the pitcher so that insects are digested and absorbed after they drown or die of exhaustion.

Digested insects provide pitcher plants with nitrogen, which is usually limited in the acidic conditions where the plants grow.

More species of carnivorous plants flourish in the wetlands of Florida than anywhere else in the country.

There are six species of pitcher plants found in Florida.  Unfortunately, only 3% of their original habitat along the Gulf Coastal Plain remains.