Sarracenia

I spent a wonderful afternoon at Cambridge Botanic Gardens, at a Blipmeet arranged by Blast. There were thirteen of us all brought together by a shared passion for photography. We gathered near the entrance, and a passing photographer kindly took a group portrait, which can be seen in Blast's journal.

Almost immediately after this a sharp hail shower sent us scurrying for the glasshouses. There was plenty to look at, though I have to admit I struggle with chatting, taking photographs and having time to really look at the flowers. Clearly not all women are good at mult-tasking!

I particularly enjoyed the display of carnivorous plants and my chosen blip is a Sarracenia flower. These North American pitcher plants always seem rather alien, with their elongated, funnel-shaped leaves, often patterned with red and cream. The funnels are used to trap insects, who are attracted to a sugary secretion on the lip of the pitchers. The edge is super-slippery, and the secretion containes a narcotic-like drug, and so the insects to fall into the pitcher, where they are digested by the plant as a nutrient source. How amazing is that?

Well, enough of the biology lesson. More hail and a bitter north wind caused us to rapidly retreat to the tea-room, where we spent a very pleasant chatting and warming up with tea and cakes. I discovered that there are people who aim to write 2000 words a day for a month, just for fun! And learnt a lot about photo-marathons. Who knows, there may even be a local one arranged in due course!

Eventually the sun re-emerged and we all braved the elements to take a few more photographs. I headed off to the lake area with Swampy316 and BikerBear, where we saw parasitic purple toothwort, swamp cypresses and the first ducklings of the year! All too soon it was time to drive back north, but it was certainly a day to remember. Thank you for organising, Blast!