| Introduction
The species, Darlingtonia
californica, also known as cobra lily or cobra plant for
this species looks like a cobra with it head ( hood) expanded
ready to strike, and it even has what looks like a forked tongue
coming from the mouth. D. californica belongs to the
family Sarraceniaceae which has in the genera Sarracenia
and Heliamphora. The leaves are mostly green, but
grown in full sun will have red colouration. There are only two
forms of the species, the most common of these is the typical
form, which has a reddish purple flower which to some look a bit
like the flower of the Snake's Head Fritillary (Fritillaria
meleagris). The other form which is rare is D.
californica 'Othello' this as a yellow flower.
Trap
The trap is a twisted upright
tube with nectar glands that attract towards the mouth or
opening, which is under the dome or head. This has many
translucent areas over it, which must give false hope to the
insect has to how many ways out of the dome. From the dome area
there is the tube which has many downward pointing hairs, which
a insect can not normally get out from. ( see drawing below)
Like others in the family
Darlingtonia californica produce a fluid in it trap, but
unlike others it does not have any known enzymes or wetting
agents found in the liquid at the start. But when the plant
starts to get full with insects the fluid seems have a wetting
agent. ( I feel that a more detailed look into this is needed.)
The leaves or traps are mainly evergreen but as the trap gets
full it does lend to the leaves to die. The size is from 6" to 2
feet tall on a fully grown plant.
In the Wild
D. californica grows in the North
eastern states of California and Oregon in the U.S.A. the plant
grows on ground that has running water in it, like beside
mountain streams. The plant can take a wide range in
temperatures but in all cases the roots of the plant are in cool
wet ground. So the plant can take snow and ice as well as hot
summer heat of about 27° C.
In Cultivation
The cobra lily ( D. californica)
in cultivation is not difficult, as long as you keep the roots
cool and damp. I live in Essex in the UK, and find the plant
grows well outside all year round. The soil mixture I use is
made up from sphagnum moss peat, sliver sand (lime
free), perlite and live sphagnum moss. At the bottom of
the pot 1" or 2" of perlite, then 1/4" or 1/2" layer of the
peat, then a mix 1 part peat, 1 part sliver sand and 1 part
perlite. I then put live sphagnum moss on top. This to
me gives the plant as near to the type of soil it grows with in
the wilds, with a highly open sub-soil for movement of cool
water and with the live moss keeping it damp and shady for the
roots and rhizome. Some growers use a mix of lime free grit and
peat.
The tray system works well as
long as the water is kept cool. taking care to ensure the water
is suitable. Like most carnivorous plants rain water is best.
The plant requires a cool night temperature. The plant has no
real dormancy, but does seem to all most stop growing in the
winter. It will tolerate frosts of -10° C. The plant also sends
under ground runners which have another plant at the end, So put
the plant in a larger pot then you think. The little plantlets
can be removed after about a year, when it has grown it's own
roots. The plant will seed freely, but as the seed takes time to
get to a fully flowering plant. Growers normally use the runners
the plant produces freely to get more plants.
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