365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Audrey Glorious
Day 239: Two out of three ain't bad! Audrey's third bud has not increased from pea-size as her two others have prospered, now as fully open as they will ever appear. Their peculiar structure is visible in this photo: an umbrella-shaped style with stigmata concealed in the interior of the dome. Insects enter Sarracenia's "inner sanctum" at the bases of the innermost petals, and only the cleverest pollinators escape her trap. Audrey's primary line of defense is not her blossom, however. Enzymes within the bases of her "pitcher" foliage dispatch and digest any insect which happens to enter the tube-like leaves. When I trimmed back her winter-killed tips this spring, I found each pitcher filled to a depth of several inches with the indigestible husks of beetles, flies and even spiders. No fertilizer for this gal! She can take care of herself.
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