Meat Eaters

Here's a few snaps of my carnivourous plant collection that mainly consists of trumpet pitcher plants. I started collecting about four years ago and was lucky to be given a large selection of about 30 pots of pitcher plants from a friend. The collection has since grown to 130 pots and a variety of different species of sundews.

Most of my Sarracenia collection

Sarracenia flava var. rugelii

This S. flava is the largest plant I have in the collection. This year I potted it up into a 10L pot; I think next year it may need to be 20L.

S. flava attracting prey

This is a common sight on all the pitchers. It is a sweet syrup secretion, the smell of which is welcome upon entering the polytunnel, in which they are kept.

Sarracenia leucophylla

My S. leucophylla are looking better this year, than they have done previously. The reds and whites are really pronounced.

Sarracenia minor var. okefenokeensis

The white patches on the back of these S. minor form part of the trapping strategy of these pitchers. They cast light into the lower parts of the pitcher that fools the insects into thinking the exit is further within.

Sarracenia x chelsonii

This hybrid variety is the result of a cross between two Sarracenia species; S. purpurea and S. rubra. The downward pointing hairs, present on the hood, provide a slippery surface for flies to land upon and topple into the trap.

Sarracenia seedlings

These are 6 month old Sarracenia seedlings that I sowed back in December. They are growing quickly now, but it will take at least another 3 years before the first will flower. They have juvenille pitchers that all the pitcher plant species have at this stage of development. With each new pitcher that grows, they appear slightly closer to their adult form.

Drosera binata

One of my sundews having a munch.

Cheeky Fungi

 A few photos of some of the fungi that are regulars in the meadow.

 A group of Macrolepiota procera fruiting bodies (Parasol Mushroom)

A looming M. procera

 These are pictures that I took at the end of August 2011. We had about 80 mushrooms appear over a period of about two weeks. Very tasty!

Scleroderma citrinum (Common Earthball)

Loads of these have been popping up this year. They're obviously enjoying the wet summer we've been having. They turn a nasty brown colour after a few days and split open, revealing a centre that is completely full of black spores.

English Orchids

These are a few photos I took last week of two species orchids that grow in my family's meadow in Kent.

Fragrant Orchid Gymnadenia conopsea

There is only one individual of this species growing at this location and it has been present now for roughly 6 years. It is subtly perfumed; however this poor plant always seems to be under attack. The previous year, the rabbits decided to bite off the entire flower stem so it was unable to flower. This year, the slugs seem to have had a go at the stem, causing it to lean to one side. Luckily, this seems not to have affected the flower's vigour.

Common Spotted Orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Close up of Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Second form of Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Close up of second form

There are about 100 or so individuals of the common spotted orchid growing in our meadow. They vary greatly in their flower form as the pictures show. These are white but there are also individuals with pinkish flowers. They appeared at roughly the same time as the fragrant orchid after five years of a complete absence of grazing. They grow in a swathe across a bank at the lower end of the field which is northeast facing.