CityView Magazine

Plants that bite back P Dine with us & Experience the fruit of Southern Farmers 905 Linden Rd. Pinehurst, NC 28374 www.elliottsonlinden.com 910.215.0775 46 | May/June • 2013 ack up the kids and bring the dog, too. (On a leash, of course.) All are welcome to meander through the grounds at the Carolina Beach Park, located on the island at the beach. The park was established in 1969 and one would never guess that it is 761 acres with 13 different plant communities. You can see a marshy swamp, tall pines and cactus colonies all inside the same park. The area thrives on 51 inches of rainfall throughout the year. The trails are well-worn and well-kept, thanks to the half a million visitors who stop at the park annually. Many come to visit the park's habitat of insect loving plants, the Venus Flytrap. Guided tours take place each Saturday. On my tour Carla Edwards, who has served as a Park Ranger for 20 years, shared fascinating information. Accompanying her on the tour was John Helms, an assistant park ranger, in the Recreation Sport Leadership and Tourism Management program at UNCW. They educated me on the different flora, fauna and terrain inside the park. Take a stroll through the Flytrap Trail, a half-mile loop through the Pocosin, Savanna, Longleaf Pine and Turkey Oak tree communities. In this area there is a great diversity of plant life. The parks acid mineral ash-poor soil is home to several carnivorous plants to include yellow Pitcher Plants, Bladderworts, Sundews and Butterworts. But the most unusual and star of the forest is the Venus Flytrap. Inside the Venus Flytrap there are three trigger hairs on each side. The trap closes if the insect touches two trigger hairs or the same one twice in a short amount of time. The plants digest the food in three to five days. The largest clump in the park has around 500 plants on it. This rare plant only grows naturally within 75 miles of Wilmington. Its flowering season is late May through early June. If you look closely you might also see a great horned owl, with pointy ears and yellow eyes, perched high up in the trees, keeping a watch on the habitat of plant and animal life within the park. Coral snakes have been seen on the grounds, but they tend to stay hidden. CV

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