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Purple pitcherplant

Sarracenia purpurea

Also called Huntsman's Cup, Pitcherplant, Purple Pitcher Plant, Pitcher Plant, Common Pitcherplant, Huntsman's Horn, Northern Pitcher Plant

Purple pitcherplant
Photo: Photo by and (c)2014 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man), GFDL 1.2
Family
Sarraceniaceae (American pitcher-plant family)
Grows as
Perennial
Water
Likes moisture
Native range
Subarctic America to NC. & E. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Sarracenia purpurea, the purple pitcher plant, northern pitcher plant, turtle socks, or side-saddle flower, is a carnivorous plant in the family Sarraceniaceae.

Where it grows

Species of Sarracenia grow in nutrient-poor, acid bogs. S. purpurea's range includes the Eastern seaboard, the Great Lakes region, all of Canada (except Nunavut and Yukon), Washington state, and Alaska. That makes it the most common and broadly distributed pitcher plant, as well as the only member of the genus that inhabits cold temperate climates. How the species traveled so far is still a mystery. From what is known so far the Sarracenia has a median seed dispersal distance of 5 cm (2 inches), which is not far enough to explain the plant's widespread occurrence throughout North America. It is endangered or vulnerable over much of the southern part of its range. Most varieties along the Gulf Coast of the United States that were once identified as Sarracenia purpurea have since been reclassified as Sarracenia rosea.

Other Sarracenia plants

Alabama Canebrake Pitcher Plant · Yellow trumpets · Sarracenia charlesmoorei · Yellow Pitcher Plant · Mountain Sweet Pitcherplant · Crimson pitcherplant · Hooded pitcherplant · Moore's Pitcherplant · Sarracenia naczii · Green pitcherplant · Parrot pitcherplant · Purple pitcherplant

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sarracenia purpurea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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