July 20, 2010

Pinguicula sp. in Desfiladero de los Beyos

It seems that I'm going to find Pinguicula every summer. I spent a week in Ribota with some friends, a tiny village in a valley in Picos de Europa. We did some hiking around, including the Horcados Rojos peak and Torre Bermeja (unfortunately I could not reach the summit) and went a couple of days to the beach. The road from the village to the north goes through a very narrow canyon, the Desfiladero de los Beyos, which has been formed by the Sella river. This canyon is full of rock walls, where I found some Pinguiculae. Once more shouting "STOP THE CAR!" did work, without accidents, and I could take some pictures.

I cannot confirm the species, since the plants had already flowered and the seed pods were ripe. However, they seem Pinguicula vulgaris. I also found some Pinguicula in the Cereceda valley, but did not take any pic.

Once more I have to thank J.S.F. (Hall of Fame member), M.P.O. and R.N.G. for their patience, for stopping the car in the middle of the road and for their cameras. Although they have helped me in similar situations. They still aren't carnivorous plants fans :-(

Enjoy the pics!

Group of plants with some captures.

Detail of leaf showing capture and sticky droplets.

General view of a colony. Pinguicula and some ferns grow on nearly bare rock. Plants were only present in wet rocks, with a constant water flow. Many of them grow in a hard muddy crust over the rock wall.

Plant with some small insects and debris.

A pair of plans with some juvenile plantlets in the lower left part of the picture.

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