Recently the New England SOS team and myself had the opportunity to travel up to a Bog. We headed to the Foster Point Bog, which was located near Waterville Maine. Our Mission was to survey plant populations and determine if plant populations are large enough to collect seed from. After you enter into a bog such as this, your life is changed! As we stepped onto the sphagnum mat, it felt as if we were stepping onto a floor of pillows. As we moved through the Bog we found ourselves surrounded by Pitcher plants with strange flowers towering towards the sky.

Sarracenia purpurea in flower

Pitcher of Sarracenia purpurea 

Before this experience the closest I’ve been to a bog was in my college biology classroom where we would study these unique ecosystems via power point slides and scientific papers. We learned about the carnivorous plant Sarracenia purpurea (Purple Pitcher Plant) and how they have modified their leaves to capture insects. Evolving these carnivorous pitchers allows the pitcher plant to thieve in nutrient poor ecosystems. Once insects are captured inside the pitcher of S. purpurea acidic serrations and enzymes are produced, which are accompanied by bacteria. This concoction inside the pitcher actively breaks down the captured prey into nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen, that can then be taken up by the plant.