TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Insect-Eating Plants Thrive Where Homes Were Slated

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 18, 2008

ODESSA - Colorful carnivorous hooded pitcher plants hide among the tall native grasses at Brooker Creek Headwaters Preserve, waiting to ensnare unsuspecting insects in their red and green pit traps.

"Bog plants like the pitcher plants are very rare," said Ross Dickerson, conservation manager for the county's Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program. "The pitcher plants here are one of the main reasons we got this property."

Fox squirrels, coyotes, alligators and wild turkey find food and shelter here. Rare rose begonias and the endangered toothed lattice-vein fern peek out from corners in the preserve.

This 1,100-acre expanse of nature, once destined to become a 1,000-house subdivision, now belongs to the people of Hillsborough County.

Sixty percent of the property is wetlands, a fragmented Brooker Creek running through on its way to Lake Keystone. In the dry areas, three hiking trails have been laid out for visitors.

Part of the management plan for this land calls for regular controlled burns to keep the pitcher plants thriving. Within seven days of a burn, Dickerson said, wildflowers are popping up and new shoots emerge on palmetto, ferns and the pitcher plants.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT