About Darlingtonia State Natural Site
Darlingtonia State Natural Site protects a field full of plants that look like green cobras preparing to strike.
Darlingtonia californica, commonly called the cobra lily, produces hollow tubular leaves topped by curved hoods and forked appendages. Nectar attracts insects toward a concealed opening. Once inside, translucent areas confuse the insect’s sense of direction while downward-pointing hairs make climbing back out increasingly difficult.
The trapped insect eventually falls deeper into the tube, where decomposition releases nutrients the plant can absorb. It is a brutal solution to living in nutrient-poor wet soils and one of the clearest examples of a plant behaving in a way that feels suspiciously animal.
The eighteen-acre site is the only Oregon state park property dedicated to protecting a single plant species, and the cobra lilies are the only carnivorous plants protected in the state park system. A short boardwalk leads into the fen without allowing visitors to trample the habitat. Collecting the plants is illegal.