If you’ve ever seen a cobra lily (Darlingtonia californica), you know it’s hard not to become mesmerized by these strangely-shaped plants. This rare plant is a member of the pitcher plant family (Sarraceniaceae) that is the only one found in Oregon.
Darlingtonia State Natural Site is the only Oregon state park property dedicated to the protection of a single plant species, according to Oregon State Parks. The 18-acre botanical park is located in the southern Oregon coast near Florence. Visitors can walk on a boardwalk trail out to an area sheltered by trees that is home to the cobra lilies.
For insects, this is a little garden of horrors. The lilies are multicolored, with yellowish green hooded leaves in the shape of long tubes rising from the ground, with purplish to reddish brown lids atop the tubes. The tube’s opening is bordered by a large mustache shaped lip and nectar inside attracts insects down to the deathly well. Once inside, the insects become confused and they eventually fall into the lower part of the tube, trapped by pointy hairs and slip into a pool of water at the bottom. Bacteria in the water decompose it into nitrogen that the plant then absorbs.
Darlingtonia californica has flowers with five purple petals (surrounded by yellow sepals) that bloom in the spring. Associated species include an orchid, California lady’s slipper, and two lilies, Tofieldia and Narthecium, according to Oregon State Parks. Darlingtonia plants are found in serpentine soils and sphagnum fens arising from wet sands on coastal plains. Just remember that collecting Darlingtonia samples is illegal in Oregon and enjoy them in the wild.
You will find this and other public gardens all across Oregon in the new, 2026–27 edition of the Plant Something Oregon Road Map, available at participating nurseries and select gardening events, and at our website. It is free!