The Giant!:
Of course, Okefenokee swamp is famous
to carnivorous plant growers because it contains the endemic pitcher
plant, Sarracenia minor var. okefenokeensis. (Horticulturists
refer to this plant by the oddly spelled cultivar name,
Sarracenia minor 'Okee Giant', or more simply,
Sarracenia 'Okee Giant'.) As Don Schnell noted in his description of
this variety, it is taller than Sarracenia minor var. minor
and also has a reliably different height vs. pitcher depth ratio.
I had seen this variety in
the wild only once before, and it had been a fairly unimpressive
viewing. So you can imagine my pleasure at seeing more plants close up.
(Bonus! They were in flower!)
It is worth noting that these plants were not very heavily coloured on
the outer surface (just a blush near the top of the pitcher),
but the underside of the pitcher lid was intensely red and
orange. The pitcher lip was crimson.
We started seeing these pitcher plants shortly after leaving Kingfisher
Landing. These were on the canoe trail north, towards Maul Hammock Lake.
