Story behind the art of Jean Emmons

Curious Allies: Mutualism in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores

The Fifth New York Botanical Garden Triennial

Cobra Lilies and Sundews

Darlingtonia californica, Drosera rotundifolia

The perennial question with both of these carnivorous plants is, “Do they eat their pollinators?” After speaking with nursery people who have grown these plants from seed for years, the consensus is “yes” they probably do eat them, eventually but not immediately, after flowering is over and the pollinators are done pollinating. Initially, the flowers come up before the leaves and are much taller. By the time the traps arrive, the flowers are already making seed pods. Why not eat the pollinators? 

This can also be problematic if you are trying to create a pollinator garden and your carnivores eat the insects you are trying to attract for your other plants. One expert weighed in with, “Of course, occasional accidents mean some allies are eaten, but not enough to worry about.”

I grow darlingtonias and sarracenias in big pots on my back deck, away from my pollinator garden. Unfortunately racoons come through and search for earthworms, pulling the plants out of their pots. When this happens no one gets pollinated or eaten, except the worms.

Darlingtonias are a little more difficult to grow than sarracenias. It’s hard to replicate the cool slowly moving water they like. To keep their roots from getting too hot, I grow them in light-colored pots. They like their feet wet but their ankles dry. To keep the correct water level, I drill holes in the sides of the pots. These plants need anaerobic soils and unchlorinated cool water. Sometimes when temperatures are too high, I give them ice cubes. The ice cubes melt slowly and soothe their roots.

In the Siskiyou mountains of Southern Oregon, it’s an arresting sight to see hundreds of 3-foot darlingtonias marching down steep gravelly hillside seeps. The seeps keep the ground moist, but bring up heavy metals from below the earth’s crust, creating a harsh environment for plants. Darlingtonias, being remarkably resilient, thrive in these nitrogen-limited, mineral-heavy serpentine soils that are toxic to other plants. Darlingtonias recover well when wildfires clear out their plant competitors.

Darlingtonias also thrive in anaerobic spaghnum bogs where they often share their environment with Drosera rotunidfolia. Droseras, or sundews, are found all over the world. Like beautiful tiny sea anemones, sundews beguile both insects and people. Droseras, in addition to liking sphagnum bogs, share some other aspects of darlingtonias. Droseras hold their flowers on a long stalk above the leaves to avoid injuring their pollinators. Also, like darlingtonias, the roots of droseras don’t take up nutrients. Roots are just for anchoring and water uptake.

Their common name, sundew, comes from the mucilaginous glands on stalks that glisten in the sun, mimicking drops of dew. The stalks are incredibly sensitive to the vibrations of tiny insects landing on them. The glands emit nectar to entice insects and then to act as fatal glue to keep them. The struggling insects are quickly smothered by glue as more tentacles curl around them.

The genus Drosera astounded and obsessed Charles Darwin. By studying this plant, he discovered insectivory (feeding on insects) in plants.

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Read more about this artist's work: 26th Annual