Pitcher Plants

 The Pitcher Plant is a carnivorous plant.  It captures and eats insects that climb inside.  Their flowers are tube shaped, hollow and open at the top.  A sweet liquid at the bottom of the tube attracts insects which crawl down the tube over cilia that is pointed downward.  Once in the tube, the insect can’t climb out because of the little hairs.  The liquid inside basically “digests” the insect and the plant absorbs the minerals as nourishment.

Pitcher Plant

 A bog is a wetland that’s dry enough to burn once in a while in order to stay healthy.  Fires burn off layers that would cause the ground to become shady and inhibit growth of these plants.  Natural fires caused by lightning used to keep the bogs habitat in order but more recently controlled fires have done the trick thus keeping nearby homes safe. 

There are 4 types of pitcher plants at this bog to look for: Sweet Pitcher Plant, Purple Pitcher Plant, Parrot Pitcher Plant and the most numerous type is the White-topped Pitcher Plant.

Boardwalk entrance to Weeks Bay Pitcher Plant Bog

The bog is located on CR 17 off of US 98 just east of Fish River Bridge.  After visiting the bog go across the bridge and visit the Weeks Bay Estuary Interpretive Center.