Treasure Hunt

We read about them in Lulu Island Blog: sundews. The last time I had seen any in the wild was 20 years ago, in the mountains above North Vancouver. And these were right close by, in the Richmond bog. We had to go and find them.

I didn't have high hopes; they are tiny, elusive plants and the bog is big. But we would enjoy walking there, whether or not.

We started at the Richmond Nature House, off Westminster Highway. Signs outside warned us: no dogs, no bikes, no feeding the animals. Do not pick the plants, not even berries. And no smoking; bog fires are easily started, hard to put out.

In the Nature house, a very small boy was watching a very large garter snake in an aquarium. He (the snake) was flicking a red tongue out at the boy; when Laurie peered over the top, the snake rose up to investigate, sticking the tongue out even more, an inch or more. The tip was forked and black.

On to the trails. Fireweed, birch, twisty pines, salal, the occasional mountain ash. And acres and acres of blueberry, mostly the invading high-bush blueberry, quite a bit taller than it was the last time we walked there. Underneath, the Labrador tea struggles to maintain its foothold.

Blueberry. Beautiful, but invasive.

Over the pond, dragonflies danced. The tiny blue damselflies with the brilliant head and rear end, some sturdy-looking brown dragons, and one of the blood-red meadow-hawks that I had seen before by Crescent Beach. Try as I might, though, I could not get a photo; I would focus the camera on what seemed to be a favourite spot for them and wait. They would be elsewhere. As soon as I turned to where they were now, they went back and parked at the old spot. I'm sure they do it on purpose.

Pond. No dragonflies.

But we were looking for sundews. I kept my eyes mostly on the ground at the sides of the trail. There were tiny flowers, several kinds. You have to look closely at this next photo, taken down at the base of the reeds, to see the flowers; some kind of miniature shooting star. (Update: Hugh Griffith -- see comments -- identifies it as a cranberry flower. Thanks, Hugh!)

Mosses. Pale green spagnum, and this rose-coloured mat.

'shrooms. Several varieties, mostly deep in the underbrush. This one was just beside the path.


Looking up for a change, I saw a bleeding tree, with tiny trapped flies.

And, yes, we found the sundew! One small patch, a few feet across, 1/2 inch high, hiding among mosses and grasses. Almost invisible, but there it was.



The day was hot and dry; even the bog paths were dry. But when I sat on the moss to take these photos, I found out that the water table is barely finger-nail deep. The sundews' roots -- I tested -- sit in soggy soil. And they pull that water up to the tips of their leaves, and stand there looking dewy-fresh, even in the heat of the day. All done in order to trap unwary insects, coming for a drink, only to be eaten.

It's a dog-eat-dog world. But beautiful, in spite of it.