Cobra Lily

Transcript

Dirty Freehub 0:19

I know you’re talking about a little bit, but are there other things that make this plant kind of unique?

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 0:24

The carnivorous nature of it is definitely very unique. I think the most unique thing about the Cobra Lily is just its location, so it really only thrives in the serpentine soils and it only thrives in areas where there is consistent water. a backpacker. I like to spend a lot of time in the backwoods and it’s a fun fact about the Cobra Lily is that because it relies on consistent water? If you see a little area of cobra lilies, it is a signal that that is a location that you can come back to and you will find water year round. So that’s kind of important here in southern Oregon because our landscape is a little different than a lot of western Oregon. We don’t get as much water. There’s one place in particular called the County of Wilderness in southwestern Oregon where the Darling Tonia grows, and it’s a very dry and rugged landscape. But you will find these little pockets of water where the darling Tony, as they’re growing. That’s a spot where, you know, you can put it on the map like, oh, I can come back here to get water any time. So it’s kind of fun

Dirty Freehub 1:21

That’s a great hack, especially for backcountry purposes.

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 1:25

for sure.

Dirty Freehub 1:26

Joining us today is Hayley Martin of Klamath Siskiyou Wildland Center, also known as Kiss Wild, a nonprofit organization that works to protect and defend wild nature in the Klamath Siskiyou region of southwest Oregon and Northwest California. As an outdoor educator and frequently trekking the woods herself, Hayley shares about a fascinating plant, the Cobra Lily. Thanks for joining us today so much. I really appreciate it.

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 1:50

Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Dirty Freehub 1:51

There’s this really cool plant, the Cobra Lily. Where is it found or how do I identify it? Like, what does it look like? Tell us a little bit about this interesting plant

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 1:59

So the Cobra Lily has a couple of names, and I can refer to it as all of the three. So the darling Tony of California is the scientific name. It’s often referred to as the Darling Tonia, the Cobra Lily, or the California pitcher plant. So three names. kind of they’re kind of interchangeable, but it’s a really unique plant. It is endemic, which means it’s only found in the region that I live in. And southern Oregon. So. Southern Oregon. Northern California. Is its main location. It can also be found in Washington and in British Columbia. but the pitcher plant is typically found in areas where there’s consistent water or fens, and they’re found in areas that are high in serpentine soils, which are considered toxic for a lot of plants. There’s a really high heavy metal content in these soils, and it doesn’t really leave a lot of space for a lot of plants to grow because the nutrients are so low. So the plants that can thrive in these serpentine soils have to find their nutrients elsewhere, which is where the cobra lily comes in because it is a carnivorous plant. So it feeds off of the nutrients from the insects that it intakes, and it doesn’t rely on the nutrients that are in the soil.

Dirty Freehub 3:10

that is so fascinating, because when I think of carnivorous plants, I think of, like, the classic Venus flytrap.

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 3:15

Yeah, absolutely. And this one is actually like the most complex of the all of the pitcher plants because it intakes the insects and then it creates its own like digestive enzyme inside of the plant. It’s got like the bulbous top here and then these two leaves at the bottom. And so under here there’s like a little hole where the insects will come in and then they get trapped in the neck of the plant here, and it’s got those downward facing hairs. So it can’t cut the insects can’t come out once they’re in. And what makes it so complex is that a lot of other pitcher plants have openings at the top where they intake water to help them digest the insect. But the pitcher plant doesn’t have an opening for water, so it creates all of those enzymes on its own to digest the insects and extract the nutrients to sustain itself.

Dirty Freehub 4:00

Whoa. from what I know of some cannabis wars, plants, it takes like a while to go through that process. Like, they don’t just pop back up in the next hour necessarily and are ready to eat like another insect. Is it the same for the pitcher plant as well?

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 4:13

I don’t know the length of time that it takes to digest an insect, but I know that it will intake as many insects as well. That will come in at the end of a season towards the winter when the plant starts to decompose. You can see that there will be like tons of insect carcasses sitting at the bottom of the plant or around the plant. So it’ll intake a lot of insects. I don’t know the time that it takes to digest them.

Dirty Freehub 4:33

Now, is this plant protected? Because I was doing a little digging and there’s an Oregon State park that’s dedicated to like the entire preservation of the species. So is it a protected species? And like, do you know anything about some of this?

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 4:45

Yeah. So it’s not currently protected as an endangered species per se. The Endangered Species Act is kind of what’s going to be the overarching federal regulation that will protect certain species that are that their species is threatened. So the Cobra lily is actually on the threatened list for candidate species. And it’s not because the population of the plant is at risk of going away. It’s more so because their population is already so limited in its location that the agencies and the other regulatory bodies will keep an eye on the plant. And it’s a candidate only because their habitat is so unique and they can only exist in certain places. So in the instance of this park, like you were talking about, there are only small pockets of these plants around the region. And so there will be certain botanical areas or parks that will form kind of around these special plant locations, and that’s just to offer a level of protection. There’s not any federal regulation besides you don’t dig them up, but you’re yeah, the agencies aren’t like, out there monitoring them super closely.

Dirty Freehub 5:53

Gotcha. That makes sense. Now, like, obviously with what we do is a lot of gravel cycling and route development and are often learning and educating about these pieces. Lives are ways that like cyclists or people who are, you know, outdoor enthusiasts. Are there ways that we can help preserve this plan or educate ourselves more about this plant?

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 6:10

Yeah, definitely. So I would say just from my perspective, so I work with a, an environmental advocacy organization in southern Oregon called the Klamath Siskiyou Wildland Center or Karst Wild. And we specifically have a program called the Public Lands, and you program also called the Play Program. We kind of work to connect people with their public lands in a stewardship setting, meaning that we like to get folks outside on public lands and get them engaged with. What their public lands have to offer, and that’s often in terms of work trips. So we’ll partner with the agencies and get folks outside. And a big thing that we do is helping build protections in botanical areas. And I’m sure there’s organizations like ours all over the region where the COBRA lilies grow. But one of the biggest ways I would say is getting engaged with the organizations that are putting in the work to protect these plants. Even calling your agencies, whatever your local or regional agency for service or BLM, maybe to learn where the plants are. And then if you want to go see them, I totally encourage it because again, this plant is so cool. And I think that one of the biggest ways to protect plants is to have a personal experience with them and really, like, find a reason why you care about them and then do it in a respectful way, You know, staying on trails doing things from a distance and learning more. We have a page on our website as dot org where we kind of go into depth about the Cobra Lily, but you can also find lots of information on native plant websites on the Forest Service website. But it’s a really cool plant to learn more about.

Dirty Freehub 7:41

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you make such a good point, too. there’s one thing about learning in like a classroom setting or, you know, learning about something, but there’s a whole other experience, especially with, the outdoors of being actually they’re experiencing it with whatever it is. I feel like it has a huge impact on people, so it’s really great that you guys can do that.

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 7:56

Yeah, absolutely. I think that in the, in the world of advocacy, it’s like the number one thing you can do is get outside if you can. And I know accessibility is always a factor. So whether it’s like watching videos online or if you have the ability ability to go outside and see these things for yourself, I think that, yeah, developing that relationship is step one for wanting to protect it. feel very fortunate to live in an area with such cool plants. It’s so cool.

Dirty Freehub 8:20

So like a lot of Oregon feels like that, I’ve traveled around a bit and I was like a Oregon’s got some really cool stuff. A lot of the time

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 8:25

Yeah, definitely does. And especially here in our region. But what we call the Klamath Siskiyou Region of Southern Oregon and Northern California, we have hundreds of endemic plant and animal species that exist here in this region and nowhere else in the world. So it makes for a really yeah, it makes for a really unique outdoor experience. And the Darling Tony is just one of many thanks for being curious about the Cobra Lily and wanting to bring awareness to it because most people don’t know what it is. And you know, when people see my tattoo on my arm, they’re like, What is it that a snake? And you know, I think it’s funny because the cobra Lily, Right. It’s called the Cobra. Lily because it’s kind of got this, like, position, like it’s a snake poised to strike. So that’s where it gets its name. And a lot of people are like, Oh, it’s like a weird snake. Like, No, let me tell you about this really cool plant. I’m so glad you asked.

Dirty Freehub 9:13

don’t. thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Haleigh Martin – KS Wild 9:17

Absolutely.