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Sarraceniaceae
Northern Pitcher Plant
Sarracenia purpurea
Cunning beauty and patient capture.
- Family
- Sarraceniaceae
- Genus
- Sarracenia
- Native to
- eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Spring, Early Summer
- Type
- carnivorous perennial
- Height
- 6-18 in
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- acidic, boggy, nutrient-poor
- Water
- high; constantly moist to waterlogged
- Hardiness
- 2-9
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Insects slip on the waxy rim and drown in rainwater pooled inside, then are digested by bacteria and enzymes.
- It is the provincial flower of Newfoundland and Labrador, featured on the Canadian ten-cent postage stamp.
- Unlike southern pitcher plants, it does not produce its own digestive enzymes — it relies on a community of microbes.
- A tiny mosquito (Wyeomyia smithii) breeds exclusively inside the pitchers, immune to the digestive process.
- It can survive temperatures as low as -40 degrees, making it the hardiest carnivorous plant in the world.
Color meanings
0
uniqueness
1
hidden danger
2
resourcefulness