Green Pitcher Plant Bog Trip

On Monday, June 3rd, I took a trip to North Alabama to hunt for the federally endangered Green Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia oreophila).  These plants have been reduced drastically in numbers and are known to only exist in 36 places in the world -- 33 of which are in Alabama.  This distinction gets the Green Pitchers the ranking of G2, N2, and S2 (Globally imperiled, Nationally imperiled, and state imperiled) on NatureServe's ranking scale of 1 to 5 -- where 1 is critcally imperiled and 5 is safe.

http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Sarracenia+oreophila

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The plants are an eerie lime green color.  The flowers are still present, but have faded from their early May flowering.  Most of the sites have been burned this spring to help reduce light competition from shrubs and small trees.  This is one of the factors that The Nature Conservancy (on the preserve properties they own) as well as the U.S. Government (on the Little River Canyon Preserve property) have taken to revive the species.  The pitchers take the burning like a regular plant would take fertilizer.  They go crazy afterwards!