It eats insects and it looks like a snake! Kind of like herping,
right? On Thursday I drove up to the Sierras in search of one of
the coolest plants in the US, the Cobra Lily or California
Pitcher Plant (Darlingtonia californica ). They are native to
the northern Sierras and coastal Oregon, and tend to be found
only on cold seeps in serpentine rock formations. Their closest
relatives are the pitcher plants in the genus Sarracenia , which
are only found in the eastern US and Canada. Their tongues
produce lots of nectar in the growing season to attract insect
prey - the insects crawl up the tongue into the puffed head of
the leaf, where escape is almost impossible due to a rim around
the entrance. The insects then wander around until they lose
their footing and fall down the back of the pitcher and drown.
Unlike many carnivorous plants, Cobra Lilies apparently don't
produce digestive enzymes in their fluid pools. Instead, the
dead prey is broken down by bacteria and specialized
endosymbiotic midge larvae, and t