Squamish Purps

porcorosso

porcorosso

Carnivore
Out walking Today with my daughter and Found these beauties growing nearby :)
Never seen wild purps south west coast of BC before. I was just going to check on the sundews to see what stage they were at and found these :)
IMG_4084.JPG
IMG_4085.JPG
IMG_4086.JPG
IMG_4087.JPG
 
that's what my friend Colin thinks too.
Haven't met too many enthusiasts out here in Squamish, a couple newbies..
it seems like an established patch.
When I get back from Newfoundland in August I am going to hunt around for more where I normally go to look at the rotunds.
 
This is awesome Dan!

Colin was texting me about this today and I mentioned to him that they’re 100% introduced. There has been pretty extensive studies done on their western most distribution and this is well past it. Interestingly this is the first time I’ve heard of any introduced sites this close to the coast in BC. There are a couple populations down near the US gulf islands where the species has taken hold.

I highly advise only showing people you trust as not only will people take the plant (it’s not native so people don’t feel bad about doing it) but the province might step in an remove them. Exact same thing happened with Darlingtonia near Tofino.
 
For sure, Would be happy to show you :)
I found the first population of rotunds about four years ago.
then the rest the year after, mostly on floating decaying logs and peat mounds in shallow lakes.
Somehow I never noticed these before now though :/
 
The Darlingtonia near Tofino were there around 15 years ago. The park naturalists were speculating on how birds carried the seeds up from Oregon and were planning to write papers about them but in the end, it turned out they were introduced and they were removed. There were a group of us in the lower mainland who were trying to naturalize some CP the wild. The biggest planting was on Bowen Island and lasted many years until the bog was bulldozed for a residential development. Can't tell how big the colony is in Squamish, but if you think it could grow that size after about 15 years, then I probably know some likely suspects.
 
it could be, I head to Newfoundland tomorrow but will check on my return, but I imagine it could be that old.
Not as hidden as I imagine it should be :/
 
They look like heterophylla. If they are, I know who planted them. There are also colonies established near Mt. Vernon and Anacortes if anyone is down in Washington State.
 
If he planted more, look for places that were close enough to road access with large expanses of sphagnum. He was not the type to go off hiking way into the backcountry.

The bog on Bowen had Darlingtonia, two or three species of Sarracenia and another three or four Sarracenia hybrids. We planted them on a sphagnum hummock that the average person would not come across unless they had gumboots. If there are any other sites, summer would be the time to look for them when the water levels are down.

Can't say whether there are other sites in Squamish because these plantings were independant from the group - probably done when he was scouting for a site before we settled on the Bowen Island site.
 
cool, I won't actively search then, but keep my eyebulbs peeled when I am puttering around and looking at dews.
Maybe I'll find another :)
It was pretty sweet to find this one, I saw the tell tale flowers from a distance and got in closer to confirm. pretty rad !
 
Everyone in the Pacific Northwest Carnivorous Plant Club was from the Lower Mainland, Seattle or Portland. The one island member was Mike Feuersenger at Hillier water gardens in Coombs. I know his mom still runs the business. If you can find him he might be able to give you some information. He had a lot of Sarracenia and Nepenthes back in the day.
 
Hmm not sure why it posted three images :/
oops.

Squamish colony is alive and well !
Took some photos on the way to swimming with my daughter : )
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top