How cool is this plant? The Carnivorous Sundew ~ Pic Heavy

Carnivorous plants. Sundews.

We went for a hike the other day and these wonderful little plants were growing along the lakes.

I had no idea that we had such a cool plant growing in our area... I would expect to see them in more tropical areas not were we get ice and snow.

Seeing these little guys totally made my day. Coolest thing ever!!!!

Round-leaved Sundews

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They were growing close to the water, along the mossy banks, or off of logs.
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Sundew eating a winged insect.
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Snacking on a beetle.
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I thought that this was interesting about them.

Animal Uses The leaves were used for removing warts. The sundew was known as 'many hearts' by the Haida first nation and was used as a good luck charm for fishing. The sap contains an antibiotic and was used to treat tuberculosis, asthma, bronchitis and cough. Modern and Medicinal Uses: The leaves of the Round-leaved Sundew are known to curdle milk and in Sweden has been used to make cheese. Plant extracts have been used for its anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic capabilities, and can also treat respiratory ailments. The fresh leaves of the Sundew are used medicinally to treat warts, related to it's ability to digest proteins in insects. - See more at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

Wow!
They are really going to eat them up? I think the way you caught the texture of the wings is amazing!

Wow cool! I think I saw some of these a couple weeks ago when at the Falls but had no idea they were carnivorous. Anything that eats these horrid mosquitoes is fantastic  

Oh Silkie, oh Silkie, what most beautiful pictures. And how on earth did you notice this little marvels of Mother Nature herself. I am shocked that this type of plant would grow up in the cool north. I really am. I too thought they were of a tropical origin, but certainly not, as SerJay indicated she found some too, way up north, as you both are. Wow....I am shocked, and I am astounded at the beauty of these little flowers, eaters, not sure what you would call them. Again, you hold us spellbound with the beautiful ability you have with the wonderful new camera. I personally, am so glad that you got it, you make us stand in awe. Have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.

My friend pointed them out to me. A few years back he noticed them while floating along the edge of a small lake.  He's a lot of fun to hike with because he has a great eye and loves these types of things too.  When he first seen them, they had all these tiny ants stuck on them.  I think it would be fun to go back and take pictures of the types of bugs they are eating.

The flowers grow up higher then the sticky leaves and bloom on sunny days (It was cloudy when we went).
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They even grow on pieces of logs sticking out of the water.
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They occur on every continent except Antarctica, with almost 100 species in Australia (only a few here, though). I remember seeing lots of them in Tasmania last year -very cool.

I have carnivorous poplar trees.

They try to drop branches on people's heads so the bodies will fertilize their roots.

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HigginsRAT wrote:

Fowler wrote:I have carnivorous poplar trees.

They try to drop branches on people's heads so the bodies will fertilize their roots.

Must be popular (as in "a favourite") plantings at the "in-law's" farm, eh?   


Silkie, I remember these plants too were growing wild in and around Port Hardy, Nor Van Isle.  

It is weird...pitcher plants, venus fly traps.  Keeping the bug population down a bit.

The photos of them are GREAT...as always a pleasure to see your art work here.   

Thank you for this.  

Tara

Fowler, Your poplar's must make interesting photo ops! lol

I would love to see pitcher plants. Wonder if we have them inour area. Something to check into for sure!

I have heard that you can keep the Sundews in your kitchen to keep down fruit fly populations in the summer. I suppose if you put a piece of banana close by to lure the bugs to that area... I would proably just kill it though and feel bad about it. lol

My friend snapped a picture of me taking pictures of the Sundews. I was having to much fun. Glad he's such a patient person. I can lose track of time doing things like that. lol
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Silkie, these pictures are beautiful!  Especially the one with you in it.  Nice to see you in your element...out, standing in your field, so to speak.   

These plants bring to mind "Venus Fly Trap" plants that I used to enjoy as a kid.  As I recall, they needed to be placed in a tray of rocks filled with water.  Maybe not so much tropical as moisture/humidity-loving.  Do you think they're related to your little murderers?  They had similar round palms edged with many fingers.  It used to give me such pleasure to catch a fly, pull one wing off (I know, I know  ) and toss it to the plant   and watch the hands snap shut over it.

I'm impressed that you saw and identified them.  I rarely see details unless clubbed over the head with them.  Do you find your acuity has improved since getting a really nice camera, or have you always been able to spot details?

I have always really enjoyed the small little things like plants, mushrooms, and mosses. Looking though the lens of a camera does help you to see a little more sometimes. It helps you to focus on some small beautiful thing. Definitely adds to a hike, if you are looking for subject matter. Makes you slow down and enjoy it to it's fullest.

I have to give credit to the finding of the Sundews to Forest (my friend) though. He's been telling me about them for a while now.

We also found these cool plants coming up out of the moss. I had never seen them before. They were the most beautiful pink. There were also some sort of yellow tinged ones. I think that they might be called Groundcones. Maybe a Vancouver Groundcone? They are a type of parasitic plant that gets nutrients from roots of other plants. I would love to go back and see them as they grow out.

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A nice clump of them.
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Oh I can't stand it, you so make me wish that I was on that hike with you and Friend. Seriously. I am such a nature girl. I don't know what has happened to me. But since our move from the coast, I am not really much in tune with nature in the wild, so to speak anymore. We don't live in a forested area, as we did on the coast. Our five acres there had so much forest, mostly cleared, but I surely did spend alot of time doing foresty things. Like looking at little things, such as you. It is certainly a different form of life I live now. We are still nature, but living between alfalfa fields all around, the mountains close by, Daughter living on a mountain hill, I could do nature stuff, but seem to be stuck in the middle of the fields, smiling that big smile. I used to take so many pictures of bees and the flowers, hundreds upon hundreds, and I too have pictures that make one stand in awe to see, but of bees, flowers, bugs. Wonder why I don't bring up that side of me again, perhaps I shoudl take a little more time to stop and smell those flowers again, and take pictures.

Oh those beautiful, beautiful, beautiful little flowers and carnivore plants that you are showing us are just such a delight. I am serious. It almost makes me cryee, I know that is not a word, and there is no word to describe my emotions right now. Oh such beauty, the little things in life that you are showing us, I love, love, love that. And I am happy that you have this new little life, wherein you are getting out doing things with someone that has like interests, now how cool is that Silkie? But remember...if you altered history one little bit, you would not be that shining star in these ways that you are today, as you walk through woods, with your awesome camera in tow.....have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.

Silkie, may I ask your permission to copy these pictures to put in a "pretty" picture folder on my laptop? Always must ask permission. I would not use them for anything but taking a gander at now and then...have a beautiful day or two even, or more, CynthiaM.

Cynthia, anytime you want to save a photo, please feel free to!  

Wouldn't it be fun to go for one of those hikes together?  Bet we would take a long time to make our way down the trail, with many stops.   You really should take the time to drag out your camera to capture those flowers and bugs that you love so much.  It's such a great stress reliever too.  While you are focusing on them, everything else just disappears.  Bet there are some beautiful things in those fields around you, waiting to be discovered.

Another neat plant that we noticed and I looked up when I got home is a plant called a Pinesap which doesn't use photosynthesis or contain chlorophyll.  It gets it's nutrients from a fungus that feeds off plant roots.  There are so many cool and odd plants.

I'm working on a blog post about our hike that will have tons of pictures, but it will take me a while to write up.  Busy with work and stuff.

Ah Silkie, a walk down a wooded trail with you, cameras in tow would be a dream world for surely. The fields of alfalfa to the east and west I think might be boring. I honestly don't think much to see. The field on the back of the property is everything under the sun, weeds, grass, probably some alfalfa, and probably LOTS of bugs. And then there is the Daughter mountain, lots of trails on that thar hill for sure. Something that I want to get a picture of is a dung bug. Ever seen one, you can only see them for a short moment, or the ones that I have are like that, think it is a dung bug, crap bug I would call it. About a month ago I was out walking in the back field and I know that Daughter goes out there and picks up the horse poo. Well, I thought I would take her shovel thing and pick one up and put it to the side along the fence. What did I see? I think dung bugs, oh man, scarey ugly and they scattered really fast when the poo was moved. Guess what they did? They went into these holes that clearly they had made and they were gone in about 10 seconds. I'm not kidding, about 50 of these suckers. What do they do? Just wait until a horse poos and then come up out of their hole as fast as their little legs will carry them? Ya, I should get out my camera and see what I can through that eye, not just my mind's eye. Good idea. Keep those pictures coming Silkie, you thrill us with them and you have a following   Have a most wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Out poking about in the woods yesterday and found another species of Sundews.  I think these might be called Great Sundews.  Not as common as the ones we found a few weeks ago.  They're the prettiest little plants.  

They were mostly growing right along where the white meets the green.  The moss was so soft and spongy there.  If you stood still you would start sinking down.  
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Digested bugs.  Mmmmm!  
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Most definately a bad place for a bug to land.  But doesn't it look awesome?
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