My husband found this while bush hogging a low lying pasture in Northeast Florida. I would like to protect it from being trampled or eaten by the cattle who will soon be on pasture there. Does anyone know what it is? Could it be safely relocated or should I fence the area off from the cattle? Thanks for any help.
Might be Sarracenia minor, Hooded Pitcherplant. Some sources have it listed as threatened in Florida. Sarracenia minor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thank you for your reply. I looked at your source and that is almost certainly the plant my husband found.
This is a very good question. If I were you I would do both, relocate a couple of plants to see if they can be happy in the new location, while keeping the rest protected from the cattle. Some plants need a special soil micro-ecosystem and will not survive in the alien environment, regardless of how much care was put into transplanting. Only in case the moved plants got well established and thriving for a couple of years I would relocate the rest.
You are very welcome. Since we bought this property three years ago we have found many beautiful wildflowers and native plants that we have protected as best we can. Most of them are in an area we have been able to set aside for this purpose, but these decided to grow in the middle of the pasture. Because they are a protected plant in Florida we have decided to fence them off rather than try to move them.
Thanks, Sundrop. That is excellent advice. I was a little nervous about moving them because I didn't know if I could find the right place and doing it as you suggest would allow me to transplant just a few incase they did not do well in the new location. After learning that they are a protected species in Florida, we decided to leave them be and just fence them off and let them stay where they are.
Glad to hear about the fencing off. That would have been my recommendation, as pitcher-plants generally need a high water table and they'd have to be transplanted into a similar situation.
Hello NOVA, Another thing you should take into consideration is a food supply for the plants. Carnivorous plants need not only space where they can grow undisturbed, they also need continuous supply of insects to feed on. Your land management practices in the surrounding area may either help them to survive or, like through the use of pesticides, cause their slow demise anyhow.
