Pale pitcher plant (Sarracenia alata) ~ East Texas, Big Thicket
(Click to enlarge)
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Lagniappe 
Is there a bog in the world that does not have its resident pitcher plant? How attractive it is. Your photograph captures the very essence of the plant.
I’d never seen one until I traveled to east Texas. I expected to see longleaf pine savannahs, but I didn’t expect to be walking through pitcher plant-filled seepage bogs. They’re beautiful, and unexpectedly colorful. I have other, more realistic pitcher plant photos to show, but their details entranced me.
Here we go loop-de-loop.
Beautiful complementary colors. I like your use of the corners to frame the plant.
The brown in opposite corners caught my attention, too, as did the brown that traces the outer spiral.
All of our discussions about blue/purple just came to mind. I see the ‘other’ color as orange, rather than brown, or at least a combination of orange and brown. That may be due to the fact that I have the memory of the plants as a whole, including the flowers; they clearly tend toward the orange end of the spectrum. Whatever the color, I did like that tracing around the edge of the spiral.
I hesitated between brown and orange. Sometimes I write “orange-brown” to get around the difficulty.
I see the colors as more approaching orange or even red. But…my display keeps asking to be calibrated again.
The colors of the plants were beautiful: this lime-ish green, muted orange, and deeper reddish-orange, especially in the flowers. You’ll be interested to know that even though it was getting late in the season, there still were a few grass pinks scattered through the pitcher plants. I could have been in one of your haunts.
I enjoyed — and was a little amused — by your comment about using the corners to frame the plant. When I read it, I thought, “Oh. Is that what I did? No kidding.” A good bit of my composition or cropping doesn’t involve much thought. I just work with what’s in front of me until it feels right.
I will admit to the same, Linda. Often my images are pure response but I am getting better at actually thinking about what I am doing. Supposedly after years of practice we are able to respond without thinking. Unfortunately I have a societal history of doing just that with less than happy outcomes.
Did you photograph any of those Grass Pinks? It’d be nice to see how yours compare to ours.
Lovely colours.
Aren’t they? The plants have interesting patterns, too, and an unworldly flower. I’m saving some of those photos for a post about the bog as a whole.
An October 24th post had to do with finding shapes of letters in nature. Your picture and the one in that post both show an O.
That’s appropriate, since my out-loud comment when I came around a bend and found the bog laid out in front of me was, “Oh!”
This is beautiful — and I adore how it looks with the background.
As beautiful as vibrant fall leaves can be, I found these more muted colors equally appealing. I don’t yet know, but suspect, that the transition from green to orange/red in these plants is similar to the turning of leaves as they lose their chlorophyll. The blurred background is composed of even more pitcher plants.
I have never seen one in the wild.
Well, hie thee to the Big Thicket. There are several spots to see these, but there’s a pitcher plant trail that has a boardwalk as well as more primitive hiking trails. I’ll be posting more about the place, so you can see some of the other plants that can be found there.
Yes, I need to go.
At the visitor center, they’ll provide you with maps for any of their trails, including the pitcher plant trail.
Alright. I am about to have more free time in my life and I have a big file of places to visit on day trips.
I want that “painting” in my living room! Such a gorgeous capture, Linda.
I’d never heard the phrase “wall hanger” until I started following some other photographers, but that’s exactly what it refers to: a photo that deserves to be on a living room wall. Now that you mention it, wouldn’t this be something, enlarged and on a wall? I’m glad you’d consider it worth hanging!
I like wall hanger too and it would be fantastic as a framed piece!!
That does kind of look like the handle of a pitcher! This was a productive trip for you, Linda — you’ve brought back all sorts of interesting photos for us to enjoy!
I hadn’t thought of a pitcher handle, but you’re right: how appropriate for a pitcher plant! Something else that suggested itself to me was the scroll on the end of a violin or other musical instrument. It certainly was a productive trip. Much in east Texas is so different from what I see here that I could have been several states away.
Very cool shot, Linda, but, being a vegetarian, i’m a little distrustful of plants that are carnivores. I’m keeping my back to the wall.
I’ve always known you were a smart man, and your comment proves it. Lucky for you that these plants are small, and probably smart enough not to take on a big, ol’ biped.
Your composition is almost an abstract painting. Wonderful.
I think the small details in nature are almost better than the whole (of the plant/bird/landscape).
Well, every whole is composed of details. The trick is noticing them and recording them. Sometimes, a focus on the details lets us come back to that whole and see it more clearly. The details are a good way to appreciate the differences among individuals of the same species, too. This was the only curled pitcher plant I found — but it was that slightly damaged curl that made it interesting to me.
That is so worth enlarging.
It would make quite a statement, wouldn’t it? I’ve never printed one of my photos for hanging, but I might give it a try with this one.
Neat! It struck me as a graceful detail from a metal sculpture, with rust and verdigris
And I agree, it would be great poster-sized
I’d not thought of rust, but now I can see that, too. I’ve always enjoyed sculptures that make use of Cor-Ten steel; maybe this is a variant. The weathering process here is shorter-lived, but just as attractive.
Great shot. I love the little window formed by the curve of the plant.
Now that you’ve said that, I’m reminded of the way we kids used to make a ‘telescope’ using a thumb and a forefinger. We’d hold that little circle up to our eyes and we were sure we could see the world more clearly!
I tend to like plants with elements that curl like that such as ferns. You get the sense of something unfurling with such shapes. This plant seems quite solid and the greens, yellows and fringe of rust so beautiful and complementary.
My brief exposure to these odd little plants suggests that they’re capable of any number of unusual ‘endings.’ Some curled, like this one; some toppled, and others just sort of shriveled. I’m eager for the height of their season next spring, so I can see their entire life cycle. I think their beginnings are just as odd, but I haven’t spent the time yet to figure out what I actually captured with my camera.
Speaking of ferns, have you ever seen ‘fern balls’? Some creature or other creates a little ball at the end of a frond, using the fern itself. That’s another ‘something’ I need to explore. I have photos, but no firm explanation.
So sculptural! xxx
It does looks like a piece of public art, doesn’t it? It’s beautiful as is, but I could see its lines smoothed out a bit, and then done in stainless steel. Even Cor-Ten steel, which would rust over time, would make a memorablepiece.
I like how the whole frame is filled. The spiral is so attractive and reminds me of other shapes that appear in nature such as Nautilus shells.
That’s such an apt comparison. I enjoy curved forms generally, but I was rather surprised to see how neatly this fading pitcher plant was curving itself as it dried. Many of the plants I found that day had simply folded over.