Pitcher Plant

Posted June 29, 2011 8:25 am & filed under Questions.

hi there!

i picked up a Sarracenia purpurea while i was there a few weeks ago, and was wondering if you guys had more information about the plant [subspecies/origin]?

thanks for your time!

tina

Tina,

The plant is from the east coast, and is quite cold hardy even surviving up into Canada. As far as we know, the plants we sell are not a subspecies; we get them from a grower back East.

The pitchers create a digestive enzyme in the base that digests the prey, and the neck of the pitchers are lined with hairs that keep the flies and such from climbing back out. Over time the digestive juices are replaced in older pitchers by bacteria and protozoa that digest the prey and make the nutrients available to the plants.

Peter

Here is an awesome botanical illustration from a long long time ago.