Oh I bet that was pretty! There’s definitely Indian paintbrush all around this fen, but not on it. When the time of year is right a bunch of fringed gentians pop up there and it’s beautiful.

I’ve got another fun fact that adjacently relates to this plant.

So the ghost pipe leeches off of those mycorrhizal fungi, but those fungi share a symbiotic relationship with the tree. The fungi help the trees absorb water and nutrients and the fungi get sugar in return. Some of the most well known plants wouldn’t be nearly as present if this relationship didn’t happen. Take wild blueberries for example. They grow in acidic soil that is poor in nutrients. They’d die without these fungi. While not all mycorrhizal relationships are necessary, a vast majority of plants have this relationship.

That blew my mind when I first read it, lol. Sorry for ranting.

These ones were probably 8" or so IIRC. I think these were the tallest I’ve found so far. Usually they’re shorter and more hunched over.

It does look like a scrotum, lol

That’s interesting, thanks for sharing. I’ve not seen this plant before, too cool.

Carnivorous plants are truly alien.

Gorgeous! I love it!

I’m not sure, but that is a good point. That and seed dispersal seem like a good reason, that or it’s a latent trait from a shared ancestor.

They’re mostly located on the East coast and Northern Midwest US. They’re all over Canada. Most states have some carnivorous plants though. The one I really want to find in the wild is Darlingtonia californica the cobra lilly. It’s an absolutely gorgeous plant, but only found in Northern California and parts of Oregon.

Source of photo

Yup, that is its flower.

Here’s a more complete picture of one

Sarracenia sp. are too cool. We have Sarracenia purpurea that grows wildly here. We’re absolutely lousy with them.

Boycott CBS

Nice photos!