Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge

Waves, Swamps, & Bayous: Southeastern Waters - Part 14

Tuesday, 20 November 2018

We visited the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge hoping to see the sandhill cranes. We did, from a distance -- there were four cranes in a large pen getting adjusted to their new home before being released to survive on their own in the wild. (The released birds have a 90% survival rate.) Instead, we discovered that the Refuge is filled with insectivorous (“carnivorous”) plants.

We walked the C.L. Dees Nature Trail along the bayou.

Another section of the bayou.

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) has an interesting life history. As a seedling (left), it grows very slowly for 5 to 7 years, developing a deep tap root and surviving low-intensity forest fires. Then in one or two years it shoots up to 6 to 8 feet tall (right) and is tall enough to survive low-intensity fires and eventually can grow into a mature tree, which is quite fire-resistant.

There are ten species of carnivorous plants in the Refuge. The tall trumpet-style pitcher plants (Sarracenia spp.) were plentiful.

A closer look at a trumpet pitcher plant.

The parrot beak pitcher plant (Sarracenia psittacina) has leaves that lie horizontal.

There were two types of sundews -- plants that catch insects on their sticky leaves. This is the dwarf sundew (Drosera brevifolia).

Tracy's sundew (Drosera tracyi) doesn’t look like a sundew at first glance until you get up close on the leaves (right).

In addition to pitcher plants and sundews, the Refuge also has butterworts and bladderworts. That’s quite a collection of insectivorous plants!