Carnivorous Plant Garden

While you are at Oxbow, take some time to visit our bog garden located inside of our outdoor turtle pond. A bog garden is a unique garden filled with rare and unique plants. A bog is a very nutrient poor environment that stays constantly moist and has soil composed primarily of sand and dead moss. Many of the plants native to bogs have developed special adaptations to survive under these harsh conditions. One such adaptation is the ability to trap and digest insects. Plants that can break down insects to supplement soil nutrients, like nitrogen, are called carnivorous plants.

Bogs, and the unique species they support, can be found within just a few minutes of Oxbow Meadows, both East towards the fall line sandhills, and at various locations on Ft. Benning. The controlled burns practiced at these locations help restore habitat for carnivorous plants and other interesting species.

Many of the special plants found in Oxbow’s bog garden are endangered and could be lost from our planet forever unless people take action to conserve, restore, and protect the specialized habitat these plants require. One of the first steps to conserving an endangered species is to understand them. With that in mind, let’s learn about a few of the interesting carnivorous species found in the bog garden at Oxbow Meadows.

	Primrose Butterwort (Pinguicula primuliflora) This species is threatened in Georgia. Like other butterworts, it has sticky adhesive leaves, which attract, capture, and digest insects and spiders. Its name is derived from the fact that it is usually the first to flower in the spring. When not in bloom, this plant appears as a bright green basal rosette that is approximately 2 inches wide.
	Carolina Bog Mint (Macbridea caroliniana) The Carolina Bog Mint is a federal candidate species for listing. Carolina bog mint has only been observed within the last 35 years in two Georgia populations, but it is available for viewing at Oxbow. Bog Mint naturally occurs in wetland swamps or wet pinelands kept clear by prescribed fire.
	Purple Disk Honeycomb Head (Balduina atropurpurea) This species is listed as endangered in Florida, and it is listed as rare in Georgia. This plant is usually at home in longleaf pine seepage slopes, which may also support pitcher plant bogs. The Purple Disk Honeycomb Head is a late summer to fall blooming aster, located at the very top and bottom of our bog. The longleaf pine ecosystem within which this flower can be found, once ranged from North Carolina all the way to Texas. Very little of that historical range still supports long leaf pines due to development, fire suppression, and replacement of long leaf pine for other types of pine species used in the paper industry. This is unfortunate, because longleaf pine is one of the most biologically diverse ecotypes in North America.
	Fever Tree (Pinkneya bracteata) This interesting tree is threatened in Florida. It can be found in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. This small tree, located at downslope just outside of the bog, contains a quinine-like chemical that was used by Native Americans and early settlers to treat yellow fever and malaria. Fever tree’s native habitat is wet, acidic soils on the margins of swamps and streams, often in the light shade of scattered pine trees.
	Venus Fly Trap (Dionaea muscipula) This federally endangered species is naturally found only within a 60- mile radius of Wilmington, North Carolina. They do flower, as do all the other plants in our bog. These plants have tiny hairs that are sensitive to movement. When a small arthropod, such as spider, crawls inside the “trap”, the plant is stimulated to close and capture the prey. The trap section of the plant is formed from highly specialized leaves. It is poorly understood as to how these plants move so quickly, but it probably involves the movement of ions such as calcium, hydrogen, or a rapid change in pH, which temporarily changes the shape of the trap leaves.