Blooming in the Bogs

BY KATHERINE CALOS - Staff Writer
Published: August 21, 2008

Slideshow
See closeups of the plantlife at Meadowview Biological Research Station

An oddity of the plant world — the pitcher plant — has an ardent defender in Caroline County.

It’s Phil Sheridan. He created the Meadowview Biological Research Station in 1995 to preserve and restore pitcher plants and the bogs that sustain them.

Give him a call, and he’ll show you around. A small white house serves as the office. Water-filled trenches grow all the varieties of pitcher plants found in the United States and Canada, an assortment of pitcher plants from around the world and some hybrids created for sale.

The organization also has purchased 100 acres in Sussex County to create the Joseph Pines Preserve for Virginia’s last remaining yellow pitcher plant populations in the wild. Preserving the plants means preserving their preferred habitat of longleaf pines, another rarity in the state. Both need sunlight, which is preserved in the forest ecosystem by periodic fires.

What good are pitcher plants? 

Wrong Question!

“That’s the wrong question,” Sheridan said. “We should be stewards. We’ve been wiping stuff out that has a right to be here. There’s a moral issue.”

Beyond that, pitcher plants are beautiful, he said. “The shape is remarkable. Nothing else looks like this. The leaves are rolled up into tubes.”

And yeah, the fact that they’re flesh-eating plants brings a “Little Shop of Horrors” theatricality to their appeal.

Pitcher plants lure bugs with a sweet-smelling liquid at the base of the tube. Downward-pointing hairs keep insects from climbing out, and the bugs eventually fall into the liquid. The plant then absorbs the nutrients.

Sheridan bristles at any emphasis on pitcher plants’ carnivorous nature. “It turns into a freak show,” he said. “It doesn’t do the plants justice.

“They’ve evolved to compensate for the lack of nutrients in their habitat.” 

A Bog-Crazy Kid

Sheridan got interested in pitcher plants while growing up in Northern Virginia.

“As a young kid, I wanted to see a pitcher plant bog,” he said. “Every last one was wiped out. That’s not right. It’s denying future generations the ability to see our natural heritage.” When the environmental movement was starting during the 1960s, Sheridan was one of those who decided to do something.

“It’s a global phenomenon,” he said. “We’re taking local action on an issue we can do something about. We’re a model of how it can be done.”

Success comes from discovering new sites with colonies of rare pitcher plants; doing research on the pitcher plant genus Sarracenia, the longleaf pine and the Atlantic white cedar; growing pitcher plants from seed and by divisions; reintroducing the plants to appropriate habitats; and educating people about bog habitats. 

Help From Afar

As the center’s reputation has grown, it’s gotten help from far-flung places. An intern from Kew Gardens in England worked with Sheridan last spring to transplant 135 pots of Meadowview-grown pitcher plants in the preserve. A federal grant in 2005 allowed Meadowview to reintroduce the mountain sweet pitcher plant to two North Carolina sites, one of them along the approach road of Biltmore Estate.

Pitcher plant sites usually are small, and that’s part of the problem in preserving them, Sheridan said. Most preservation organizations prefer to invest in large tracts of land.

“Unless you, by chance, get them on a large preserve,” he said, “you lose them.”

IF YOU’RE GOING TO CAROLINE COUNTY

Getting there: Meadowview Biological Research Station is about seven miles from Bowling Green. To get there from Richmond, go north on I-95 to exit 104 toward Bowling Green. Turn left to follow Rogers Clark Boulevard into the business district. Then turn left on state Route 2. Plan to spend about an hour on a visit.

Cost: For large groups, the cost is $100 for an hour’s visit. For large educational groups, the fee is $60.

Details: Volunteers are welcome, and eco-vacations can be arranged. For info on Meadowview, call (804) 633-4336 or http://www.pitcherplant.org.