Carnivorous Plants Website
Carnivorous Plants in the Wilderness
by Makoto Honda
Carnivorous Plants Story                          Contents   

  

 


 Cobra Plant   GENUS Darlingtonia
 

Darlingtonia californica

Cobra plant blossom in May, northern California. A nodding, red-petalled flower competes with a blooming violet for its charm and beauty. In spite of its colorful and rather unusual appearance, the cobra plant attracts only infrequent visitors to its inflorescence, and no firm sighting of major pollinators has been reported in the field. 

Mountain meadow is covered ature,

In the months of May through June, the mountain meadow where Darlingtonia colony grows is covered by a eerie display of flowers...

When the trigger hairs on the inner surface of the trap lobes are stimulated, the clam-shell-shaped trap closes suddenly --- often in less than a half second --- fast enough to capture such agile insects as a fly quite comfortably. Intermeshing marginal spines effectively prevent the prey's escape. After the initial rapid closure, the insect's struggle inside the trap further stimulates the trigger hairs, causing the trap lobes to close even more tightly.  In a day or so, the trap is seen tightly sealed around the free margins of the lobes, with the marginal spines pointing outwardly. The digestive fluids start to ooze into the now sealed trap cavity. As the digestive process progresses, the products of digestion are swiftly absorbed through the leaf and are carried away to the other parts of the plant.

 

Introduction  Venus Flytrap  Sundews  Pitcher Plants  Cobra Plant  Butterworts  Bladderworts