American Pitcher Plant Sarracenia

American Pitcher Plant Details

The American or Temperate Pitcher Plants are a widespread North American carnivorous plant. There are about eight species, but many varieties. Pitcher Plants are also well known and collected as hybrids. Since they can cross breed with each other, there are uncountable numbers of pitcher plants ranging in color and size. These cross-breeds, called hybrids are found not only in collections, but in the wild as well.

The American Pitcher Plant received its name Sarracenia in the early 1700's, about a century later in 1793, William Bartram noted about how many insects were trapped inside the plant. Charles Darwin suspected they were carnivorous, but he did not directly study these plants. It was Joseph Mellichamp that performed the experiments demonstrating that these plants are carnivorous.

Most Pitcher Plants are tall, reaching up to three feet in height. The Purple Pitcher Plant is a shorter exception because the leaves only reach about one foot, but also grow at an angle instead of straight up in the air like other pitchers. The flower stocks are straight up in the air with the flowers nodding downward. The flowers are most unusual because they have petals that stick out of a very odd shaped style (portion of the female part of a flower) that looks like a cover over the center of the flower. Click here to see a picture of the flower. Once the Pitcher Plants flower, the true leaves with traps on them start to open. They grow rapidly, reaching their completed growth height, and then open. The traps have liquid in them at the time they open. Insects are drawn to the trap by nectar in the trap. Once the insect goes inside the trap to eat, they fall in and can not get out. Once inside, the insect is drowned in pitcher in the case of the Purple Pitcher and eaten more rapidly by harsher enzymes and acids in the case of other pitchers.

Like other carnivorous plants, these will be found in wet areas. Underneath beaver dams, flooded fields, marshes, and other wet, sunny areas are the most common areas these plants will be found.

Geography

Common Name Scientific Name Region Found In Purple Pitcher S. purpurea Canada down to Florida over to Mississippi River Yellow Trumpet s. flava S Virginia to N Florida over to Alabama Sweet Trumpet S. rubra Carolinas to Alabama Pale Trumpet S. alata Alabama to Texas White Trumpet S. leucophylla SW Georgia to to S Mississippi Mountain Trumpet S. oreophila Mountainous areas in N Alabama, Georgia, and Carolinas Hooded Pitcher S. minor SE North Carolina and N Florida Parrot Pitcher S. psittacina S. Mississippi to Florida panhandle

American Pitcher Plants are widespread, but rare in North America. Most of the species live in southern North America, but the Purple Pitcher grows even up into Canada! The table here can show you which plants will be found in what areas.

American Pitcher Species

The actual breakdown of the species of American Pitcher Plants is actually debated among the experts. This actually happens frequently in science. One expert named Peter D'Amato who owns California Carnivores, one of the biggest carnivorous plant nurseries, has provided the species breakdown in the table above. I will not attempt to break them down myself, but here, I will talk a little about each of these. I will assume that Mr. D'Amato is correct in for the species names.

The Purple Pitcher Plant (S. purpurea) is the most widespread of all the American Pitchers. It grows as far south as northern Florida and over to the Mississippi River. It can grow up into Canada as well where a few different subtypes have been discovered, possibly as an adaptation to the cold weather. The plant is smaller than other species because the leaves are smaller and grow at an angle instead of straight up. The color of the plant can be deep red in some varieties to green in others. The coloration of the plant is due mostly to the veins inside the leaves. Recently, a Veinless variety was discovered which is mostly green. As with other carnivorous plants, the color of the plant is directly dependant on the amount of light they get, so if you want your plants to get pretty colors, give them lots of light! In the wild, you can find deep red Purple Pitchers, or you can find lighter colored. In cultivation, there has been one known cultivar, or an intentionally bred pitcher, the ssp. venosa "Red Ruffles". The red Ruffles has a very wavy lip around the top of the pitcher. The flowers on the Purple pitcher can be purple, pink, white, or pale green. The Purple Pitcher is the most common American Pitcher found in home collections, mostly because its small size makes it easier to grow then the others, as I learned when my other Pitchers grew too tall to be in my terrarium!

Five of the listed species of Pitcher Plants are called Trumpets because the opening resemble a horn sticking up in the air. These pitchers are southern pitchers, only one of them reaching as far north as Virginia. Like the Purple Pitcher, these will have a variety of coloration and even some with no coloration except the green of the plant. It is my opinion that some of these are the most beautiful because of the coloration. The pitchers in this group are also some of the tallest, some even reaching 3 feet tall!

The next type of pitcher is easy to classify differently because it has a distinct appearance. It is called the Hooded Pitcher (S. minor because it looks like it is wearing a hood over the pitcher. This Pitcher is believed to be the most southern-growing species.

The last type of Pitcher has more similarity in appearance to the Cobra Lily than other pitchers. It is called Parrot Pitcher (S. psittacina). This is a most unusual American Pitcher because it does not have an open pitcher like others, but seems to have a hole where an insect can enter, but could never find its way out. Once inside, there are bright areas that act as 'windows' where any flying insect flies up to. That, however, is not where the hole is and the insect gets knocked back down further into the pitcher.

Hybrids

Pitcher Plants easily make Hybrids which are crosses of Pitcher Plants between different species. This is done if a flower from one pitcher gets pollinated by the pollen from a flower of another species. In the wild, most of the pitcher flowers open at different times, so hybrids are rare (but they can be found). Most hybrids have come from people growing plants in their collections. There are more hybrid plants than can even be counted! The most popular is called the "Judith Hindle". This is a very complex cross made by first crossing a S. purpurea and S. flava and then crossing that with S. leucophylla.

Growing Specifics

American Pitcher Plants are easy to grow, but will probably need to be grown outside. The flower stocks of my plants were too tall to grow in my terrarium, so I had to move them outside. Once out there, they thrive! You might ask, "Why not just build the terrarium bigger?" It is possible to get tall aquariums or to build yours with plates, but if you do that, you will be keeping the light too far away rest of your lower-growing plants.

Pitchers grow very well with the tray watering method. To grow them outside, I use 8 inch clear plastic water dishes and check on plants a few times a week to be sure they have water. If it rains, your plants get a free drink and the rain water will actually be very healthy for them!

American Pitcher Plants need to have a dormancy period every winter. If you are growing them outside, let them stay out until it is frosting and getting quite cold. Once the day time temperatures are staying cool (between Halloween and Thanksgiving), I will put them away for a few months. They can be wrapped in some bags and placed in a garage or a refrigerator. Since the leaves are so tall, you might need to trim them off, leaving about 1-2 inches left. This will make storing the plants easier and should not harm them.

Photogallery

Click on the photos to see larger images.

Sarracenia purpurea The Purple Pitcher Plant close up. This is the ssp. venosa "Red Ruffles" cultivar.	Sarracenia purpurea Whole Purple Pitcher Plant ssp. venosa "Red Ruffles".	Variety of Pitchers This was a variety of American Pitcher Plants for sale at the International Carnivorous Plant Society meeting.
Sarracenia leucophylla This is the green and white variety of the White Trumpet Plant. I took this photo at the ICPS meeting in June 2006 and edited the background to all white to clear out the people in the back of the photo.	Sarracenia leucophylla This is the Red and White form of the Pitcher from my collection. This plant grows outside on my windowsill.	Sarracenia x 'Judith Hindle' This is a common cultivar. This is a recently acquired plant in my collection, it is quite young and small yet, but will grow to become quite tall.
A Collection of Pitchers This collection of plants was a display at the June 2006 ICPS meeting.	Sarracenia rubra Flower The flower to a Red Pitcher Plant on my windowsill.	Sarracenia rubra This is the subspecies alabamensis. This Pitcher is also growing on my window, it does not get the same coloration as my other ones, but is a nice bug collector.

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All information on this site ^©2006 State College Carnivorous Plants. Site designed and maintained by Tom Murosky. Last update January 22, 2007. I allow free use of all written materials on this site. Easy download PDF files availible in the resource link of each plant type. Photographs may contain copyrights from other organizations, you must contact them regarding use of photographs. -- We have had visitors.