Day 3 found us at a motel in Jacksonville, North Carolina, home of Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune. It is a 246-square-mile (640 km2) United States military training facility built to train soldiers in amphibious assault. Located on the southeastern coast of North Carolina, its miles of beaches provide the perfect setting for this type of training. The base is also located just southwest of one of the prime longleaf pine habitats in the Carolinas — the Croatan National Forest. Its 160,000 acres (~65,000 hectares) comprise one of the true coastal forests in North Carolina.
I was there because the North Carolina Native Plant Society had asked me to speak at their spring meeting about an area that is dear to me — the Green Swamp. Plans were to schedule a couple of field trips and visit two similar areas, Shaken Creek Preserve and McLean Savannah. These are prime longleaf pine savannahs and bottomland forests owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. Permission to visit these areas must be scheduled ahead of time because they are both active hunt clubs and are closed to the public. Being able to visit preserves like these is one of the perqs of being a member of a botanical/nature society.
The weather was not cooperating. Heavy rains were predicted that night and the following morning. The access roads to both areas are sandy gravel and sketchy, at best. There was some concern that low-clearance vehicles might not be able to make it in, so there was a decision to car pool and take advantage of all of the high-clearance vehicles that we could round up.
Morning broke with very heavy rain to the southwest and moving toward us. We met in the motel’s parking lot and came to the decision that some of us would attempt the drive in to Shaken Creek Preserve while others would visit the nearby Croatan National Forest. I was in the latter group. We split up into the two groups and headed out in our chosen directions.
The Croatan NF is just beautiful. Like similar longleaf pine ecosystems, there are large areas of open, grassy savannahs as well as bottomland swamps — perfect for lots of wildflowers and carnivorous plants. Here is an image of a typical view seen from one of the many forest service roads in the Croatan NF:
Roadside view of a Longleaf pine savannah
Our group’s first stop was a depression bog (probably originally formed as a borrow pit) located just next to one of the forest service roads. There are many borrow pits in this type of environment. A borrow pit is an area where soil has been removed for the purpose of raising the road beds so that vehicles would have easier traveling through the area. The water table is quite high in this area, sometimes being just a couple of feet (.75 meter) under the soil level. Over the years, these borrow pits will fill in with water and vegetation and provide excellent habitat for certain carnivorous plants. That was the case for the particular borrow pit we visited.
We arrived at the site under a heavy sky. As we made our way through the woods, we began to be pelted with rain. It was enough to dampen out bodies (and camera gear) but not our spirits. There were some in the group who had never experienced a bog filled with native carnivorous plants, and the excitement was palpable. This particular bog was about 100 yards (100 meters) long and 5 yards (5 meters) wide, and it was filled with Sarracenia flava or Yellow Pitcher Plants and various species of Drosera or Sundew as well as a couple of rare wildflower species. To the uninitiated, this must have seemed like a fantasy world.
We set about checking out the different species and looking for a particular hybrid Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia Xcatesbaei that was known to grow there. After some careful searching, we managed to locate the hybrid plant:
This hybrid is created by the cross pollination of two Sarracenia species that are found in the bog: Sarracenia flava or Yellow Pitcher Plant and Sarracenia purpurea subspecies venosa or Southern Purple Pitcher Plant. The following images show each of these two species, with the tall, thin Yellow Pitcher Plant being on the left, and the short, squatty Southern Purple Pitcher Plant being on the right:
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Notice how the hybrid pitcher species takes on characteristics that are intermediate between the two parent species.
In the same bog, we also found great examples of Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa or Southern Purple Pitcher Plant, as we suspected we might:
Nearby, growing out of the standing water, were dozens of dark red Drosera intermedia or Spoon-leaf Sundew:
Growing next to a group of pitchers of the Yellow Pitcher Plant, we spotted several spikes of yellow, star-like flowers. We easily recognized this as the vulnerable plant species, Lysimachia loomisii or Loomis’ Loosestrife. While this plant is endemic to the Cape Fear Arch area of North and South Carolina, it is not considered to be imperiled in either state. However, it is threatened by loss of its savanna and herbaceous, wet ecotone habitats.
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On the northern, upper slope of the borrow pit, I noticed a white flower. As I neared the plant, I was pleased to see that it was a Cleistesiopsis oricamporum or Small Coastal Plain Spreading Pogonia orchid. These were similar to the ones I had seen in the Green Swamp a few days earlier. Careful searching in the grass located 5 or 6 more of them, mostly past peak bloom but interesting, nonetheless:
Wet and eager to get to the next stop, we packed our gear and headed south to a site that Kelvin Taylor and I had visited the afternoon of the previous day. It was the site that contained hundreds of Pinguicula pumila or Dwarf Butterwort. Unfortunately, the flowers were closed due to the heavy overcast. However, the group did manage to see the orchids and other pitcher plants Kelvin and I had found earlier. Here is a shot of the longleaf pine savannah just across the road from where we parked:
Notice the scorch marks at the base of the longleaf pines. These are the result of scores of prescribed burns that the forest managers periodically set to remove woody shrubs from the savannah. The pines and other fire-dependent plants require these periodic burns to thrive.
It was time to move on to our last stop of the day. This was a sandy, dune remnant on which grew dozens of specimens of a spectacular Milkweed plant, Asclepias humistrata or Sandhill Milkweed. Due to the color of the leaves and surrounding vegetation, it was difficult for me to get a clear shot of this large, sprawling plant. There are a number of stems that originate at a central point on the trunk of the plant. These stems are lax, and lie on the ground, spreading in all directions. The terminal portions of each stem have clusters of flowers that attract large numbers of bees and other insects.
What I really like about this plant is the gray/green foliage that is outlined and heavily veined in pink. It is said that the tap root can be as large as a man’s arm and as long as 6 feet (2 meters) or more. That is one reason it can be so successful in such a dry, xeric environment. Here are some more images of the flower clusters, which interestingly vary in color from light pink to a dusky, tanish-pink:
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We even found a plant that had been pollinated and was producing several seed capsules:
Farther up this relict dune, we spotted the bright yellow flowers of a native cactus, Opuntia pusilla or Dune Prickly-pear Cactus. There are several species of Prickly-pear Cactus in the coastal plain of the Carolinas, but among other differing characteristics, this one has rounded pads rather than flat pads:
A few of the plants were already producing dark red fruit:
As one would expect, there were dozens of Cnidoscolus stimulosus or Tread-softly also called Finger-rot. As the common names imply, the urticating hairs on this plant contain a caustic irritant that inflicts a painful sting to those who contact it with bare skin. It can cause a painful, irritating rash and can cause more serious reactions with some people. As with other native plants, the common name bears more than a bit of truth. It is said that the tap root can be used as an excellent potato substitute, tasting like pasta. I don’t know about you, but I’m not eager to dig one up to try it.
After finishing at this location, the rest of the group headed off in another direction while Kelvin and I decided to check out a few locations for future visits. One, in particular, Kelvin and a friend had visited a few weeks earlier. He wanted to show me the Pitcher Plants and Venus’ Fly-traps that they had seen on that visit. We arrived and spent some time walking around and checking out the flora of the area. The only wildflower I photographed was Zenobia pulverulenta or Honeycup. The small, waxy flowers do smell remarkably like honey. See if you can spot the small, white, crab spider feasting on a tiny insect:
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This pretty much wraps up Day 3. Tomorrow, the group is headed to a Nature Conservancy site known as McLean Savannah.
Day 4 – McLean Savannah – Pender County, North Carolina.
We arose early and met again in the parking lot to plan the trip down to McLean Savannah. It is a beautiful longleaf system that is rich with carnivorous plants and orchids. The drive down was rather uneventful. The skies were clearing up and the day promised to be nice for outdoor photography.
When we arrived, there was barely room for the twenty or more cars that were part of our caravan. With care we managed to squeeze into the narrow space on the other side of the gate. It was decided that only a few of us would take the road in to the savannah area, since the previous day’s rainfall had created some rather wide mud holes in the road. I have a pickup truck, so I was able to carry a half-dozen in the bed of the truck. In retrospect, limiting the number and type of vehicles was a good idea, since the trip into the savannah area was “interesting”. There were times when my cargo of eager naturalists were actually airborne for a split second.
We finally made it to a power line cut where we emptied the various vehicles, gathered our camera gear, and sloshed our way through ankle-deep water to find the best of what McLean Savannah had to offer. I had been to this site once before, in May of 2015. Here and here are my two blog reports from that visit. I was accompanied by a knowledgeable crew from the southeastern North Carolina branch of The Nature Conservancy as well as my partner, Walter Ezell and a Florida naturalist and good friend, Eleanor Dietrich.
The others in the group seemed a bit hesitant to venture very far from the vehicles, but since I had been there before, I knew exactly how I wanted to cover the area. We were told that we had only a short amount of time to see and study the flora, so I made a bee-line to the far edge of the savannah where I had seen the most wildflowers on last year’s visit. McLean Savannah is huge. About halfway to the far side, I began to question my plan. However, I began to see some really nice Pitcher Plant varieties. Here are a few shots of some of the more colorful ones including Sarracenia flava var. cuprea or Copper-top Pitcher Plant and Sarracenia flava var. ornata or Ornate Pitcher Plant:
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I finally reached the far end of the savannah where I knew I would find a large population of Dionaea muscipula or Venus’ Fly-traps:
Sometimes, the only way to know if these plants are in a particular area is to see them in bloom. The thick stems support a cluster of white flowers that are easily visible from a great distance. Plant poachers use this to locate the plants. They will mark the spot during the day and come back at night to dig them up and cart them off. Poaching Venus’ Fly-traps from public land or private property that does not belong to you is now a Felony in North Carolina. This law was recently instituted, and it remains unclear if it will make a significant difference in the poaching problem.
Here are a few shots of some plants that were more isolated and therefore easier to photograph:
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As I made my way back to the group, I followed a fire-break road back to the power-line cut. Along this road were some very interesting plants. One of these was Calopogon pallidus or Pale Grass-pink orchid. I believe I saw this species each day on my 4-day trip. Having said that, I still cannot pass up the opportunity to photograph the plant when it is in flower:
This road is overgrown and very rutted, and on one of the taller parts of the road, I spotted an Asclepias longifolia or Longleaf Milkweed. It is a coastal plain species that can be found from Delaware south and west to Texas. It is a wetland species which, I believe, is a Species of Concern in North Carolina:
Near the Longleaf Milkweed, I spotted the unmistakable flower of Cleistesiopsis divaricata or Large Spreading Pogonia orchid. This is another orchid species that I had managed to photograph on each day of this 4-day adventure:
As I continued down the road, I eventually intersected the power line cut. This cut had fairly recently been mowed, and the tracks of the vehicle that did the mowing were full of water. Also in these tracts were some really nice specimens of Iris tridentata or Savannah Iris. This beauty comes in a variety of shades of purple — all of which seemed to be present in the power line cut. I was especially drawn to the ones with fine lines or stripes on the petals as well as the very dark purple ones:
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As I made my way back down the wet power line cut toward the vehicles, I heard someone call out, “ten minutes”. I guess that was the time remaining for us to experience McLean Savannah. To my left, I noticed Kelvin at the edge of the savannah. He told me that he had just come across a good patch of Pogonia ophioglossoides or Rose Pogonia orchid. Well, ten minutes or not, I couldn’t pass this one up. I ended up taking about 9 minutes worth of pictures, but I think this one is the best, so I’ll leave you with one last orchid photo:
It’s a double-flowered one with one of the flowers still in tight bud. I especially like the light-colored petals and the dark magenta lip. This was a very good find. Thanks, Kelvin!
Looking back on the past four days brings on a rush that only nature geeks can appreciate. We managed to find several native orchid species and a wealth of carnivorous plants in every shape and color imaginable. I want to thank the North Carolina Native Plant Society for asking me to speak to their group and for planning this super set of field trips. It turns out that a few of those who went on yesterday’s trip to Shaken Creek Preserve did get stuck in the mud holes on the road into the preserve. One vehicle had to be pulled out, but it eventually was able to continue to its final destination. I also want to thank my good friend, Kelvin Taylor for sharing with me a few of his favorite spots in the Croatan National Forest, where I was finally able to photograph the Dwarf Butterwort in all of its glory at a North Carolina location.
Until next time,
–Jim
0 Responses
Beautiful areas you visited. I would like to have been airborne in your truck bed.