Cobra Lily

The Cobra Lily, Darlingtonia californica, is a carnivorous plant named for the fancied resemblance of its leaves to a cobra's head and fangs. Behind the fangs is an opening into which the insect ventures and then finds itself unable to escape since the top is covered with little transparent windows which attract the insect's attention. Eventually the insect falls to the bottom of the hollow tubular leaf where it is digested, providing essential nutrients to the plant, which grows in bogs, poor in necessary nutrients.

The plant has a very limited range, as the species name suggests, and is protected throughout its range. It is found in northern California and southern Oregon and only there in serpentine areas (serpentine is a green and black rock full of heavy metals, and areas where it is found support unique plant populations). We found these in quite a few areas in the Siskiyou Mountains where they grow in seeps and bogs, often in huge numbers.

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