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
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