Conservationist's notebook - cobra lily: a striking western native

摘要

Exceptional, exquisite, exotic, endangered--the carnivorous California pitcher plant is all of these, and more. Also commonly known as the cobra plant or cobra lily, Darlingtonia call, mica is the only member of the pitcher plant family (Sarraceniaceae) native to the western United States. The sole species in its genus, it is closely related to Sarracenia, a genus of pitcher plants native primarily in the southeastern United States. Its prominent hood, faintly resembling the flattened head of a cobra with two forked "fangs" emerging from the base, gives the plant a dramatic presence made even more spectacular because it usually occurs in tightly grouped dusters.