Where to See Carnivorous Plants in the Wild in the USA
Seeing carnivorous plants growing wild is something every grower should do at least once. It changes how you grow them at home, because you see exactly how much sun, water, and bare, poor soil they really live in. The US has some of the best carnivorous plant habitat in the world, and a lot of it is open to the public.
Reading the Landscape
Carnivorous plants grow where other plants struggle: open, sunny spots with wet, acidic, nutrient poor soil. Think bogs, wet pine savannas, seepage slopes, and sandy wetlands. Many of these habitats depend on regular fire to stay open. Without it, shrubs and trees take over and shade the carnivores out. Where carnivorous plants come from.
Venus Flytraps
Wild Venus flytraps grow in only one place on Earth, the coastal plain of North and South Carolina. Late spring into summer is the best time to go, and you may catch them flowering in May and June. Look close to the ground. Wild flytraps are much smaller than most people expect.
- Carolina Beach State Park, NC: has a trail known for its flytraps.
- Green Swamp Preserve, NC: flytraps, pitcher plants, and sundews in open longleaf pine savanna.
- Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve, SC: one of the few places to see them in South Carolina.
Wild flytraps are protected, and poaching them is a felony in North Carolina. Look, photograph, and leave them alone.
FTS Red Jaws, nursery grown, same species as the wild plants
Pitcher Plant Bogs
The Gulf Coast has the richest pitcher plant bogs anywhere. In a good spot you can see several Sarracenia species growing together, along with sundews, butterworts, and bladderworts. Spring brings flowers, and the pitchers look their best from late spring through summer.
- Apalachicola National Forest, FL: huge stretches of pitcher plant savanna, plus native butterworts.
- Splinter Hill Bog, AL: famous for dense fields of white topped pitcher plants.
- Okefenokee Swamp, GA: pitcher plants and sundews along the prairies and boardwalks.
The Cobra Lily
Darlingtonia californica, the cobra lily, grows in cold, spring fed bogs in northern California and southern Oregon. The easiest place to see it is Darlingtonia State Natural Site near Florence, Oregon, which has a boardwalk right through a bog full of them.
Sundews, Butterworts, and Northern Pitchers
Up north, look in sphagnum bogs and fens across New England, the Great Lakes, and the upper Midwest. The round leaved sundew and the purple pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, are the ones you'll find most. Pinguicula vulgaris grows in scattered wet, rocky spots around the Great Lakes and in parts of the northern Rockies, and bladderworts turn up in ponds and wet ground almost everywhere.
I've found Pinguicula vulgaris in the wild overseas too, on a family hike near Tromsø, Norway.
How to Visit Without Hurting Anything
- Stay on trails and boardwalks: bog soil is fragile and footprints last.
- Never dig or pick: many of these plants are rare, and some are federally protected.
- Take photos, not plants: leave seed pods and flowers too.
- Check the rules first: some preserves limit access or require permits, and GPS locations of rare plants should never be shared publicly.
- Watch for ticks, snakes, and heat: these are wet, sunny, buggy places.
If you fall in love with what you see, buy nursery propagated plants. That's the best thing you can do for the wild populations.
Native American Carnivores
Flytraps and Sarracenia descended from the plants in these bogs, all nursery grown and in stock now. They grow best outside in full sun, just like the wild ones. Growing them outdoors.
Go See Them
A spring morning in a Gulf Coast pitcher plant bog or a Carolina savanna full of flytraps is something you won't forget. Go with a camera, stay on the trail, and come home with a better idea of what your own plants actually want.
Bring the Wild Home
Nursery grown flytraps and pitcher plants, never wild collected.
Happy Growing
Jeremiah Harris
Jeremiahsplants.com