Big Thicket National Preserve, Pitcher Plants, and Bees

Southeast Texas has a national preserve that covers a great deal of ground. Texas can handle Big Thicket National Preserve, though. A national preserve is like a national park, but hunting and mineral extraction are permitted under close regulation.

There is a variety of recreational activities partly because it has several ecosystems, so both hiking and kayaking can happen on the same day. Naturally, this means there are several different kinds of lifeforms. One that is our focus shows the genius of the Creator and planned mutualism.

Cypress slough habitat, Big Thicket National Preserve, WikiComm / William L. Farr (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pitcher plants show design through their shape, which takes in some rainwater under the hood, and a fragrance attracts insects. They get in there and become food for the plant. In the days before the plants grow pitchers, they attract bees but do not trap them. However, the plant is designed to nudge the bee to pollinate other flowers! Many things in nature make sense when taken from an engineering perspective, but secularists prefer the irrational belief system of evolution.

Pitcher plants grow from swamp-submerged roots every spring. Small leaves appear first, then flowers. Pitcher-shaped leaves grow after the flowers fade. Each pitcher looks like a vase made out of one leaf with a hood (operculum) like a tiny tarp draped over the opening. These pitchers use a suite of features to catch creepers like insects or slugs. The plant absorbs nutrients such as nitrogen from its captives. This comes in handy in areas where sandy soils have few nutrients.

To read the full article, see "Big Thicket National Preserve: Pitcher Plants and Busy Bees."