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July 15, 2005 : Sarracenia purpurea

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Keywords: Sarraceniaceae | Sarracenia purpurea L.

Sarracenia purpurea
Sarracenia purpurea

Commonly known as pitcher plants (see the leaves of the pitcher plant via Google Image Search for the reason why), the genus Sarracenia is solely distributed in eastern North America. Its family, the Sarraceniaceae, contains three genera: Sarracenia, Darlingtonia (native to California and southern Oregon), and the South American genus Heliamphora. Each of these genera have highly modified leaves that are used to entice and trap insects for food. As they are bog plants, access to nutrients is a challenge; insectivory, which gives the plants access to a fairly high amount of nitrogen, is an effective adaptation to the stress of living in a nutrient-poor environment.

This flower photograph of Sarracenia purpurea was taken at the edge of the Libau Bog Ecological Reserve in Manitoba last year.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at July 15, 2005 12:00 AM

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Comments

Wow! I've always wondered what they smell like, but whenever I'm near them I forget to find out. (Therefore, what do they smell like?)

Posted by: Mustela Furo at July 15, 2005 4:53 AM

I'm partial to the pitures of flowers. Color plays an important part for me. Thanks for including both b&w and color.

Posted by: flowerchild at July 15, 2005 6:15 AM

WOW!!! I didn't even know anything like that existed in North America. Is it similar to a Venus Fly Trap? What is the content of the bog...algae, perhaps peat moss?

Posted by: Gabriel at July 15, 2005 8:07 AM

Wow! Great stuff. Thanks a lot for submitting the news feed to inewstorrent.com

Posted by: Gene at July 15, 2005 10:02 AM

Well, I didn't submit the channel - maybe someone else did? Anyway, there's a typo in the submission, Gene - I've contacted you through the contact form on the site about it.

Posted by: Daniel Mosquin Author Profile Page at July 15, 2005 10:43 AM

Gorgeous. The different shades on the color photograph are just wonderful. Thanks!

Posted by: Sarah at July 15, 2005 12:25 PM

Any suggestions for getting these guys to grow in the mid-west? Has anyone had success growing them in a 'modified' bog in the ohio valley area?

thanks,
cindy

Posted by: cindy at July 17, 2005 3:17 AM

how does this plant protects itself im just wondering cause i am doing a project on it but it does not say and if you could e-mail me some interesting facts about this plant that would be great ASAP though please thanks
bye from bailey gray

Posted by: Bailey at March 18, 2008 3:58 PM

June 15, 2008 - I just discovered one of these gorgeous pitcher plants in Tobermory, Ontario Canada, along the shores of Lake Huron in a bog area ! It had 2 flowers on it just like your picture(s) and then I noticed the "pitcher like leaves" . I am an avid gardener, but never, ever had I seen a plant like this before ! I had to search the internet to find out exactly "what it was" and it's name..................... I will now see if I can find more on another walk !!

Posted by: Joan at June 17, 2008 7:45 PM

Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!

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Botany Photo of the Day is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems within The University of British Columbia.