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General Information

Sarracenia's are native to North America with most species being found in the south eastern states of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and the Carolina's.  There are two notable exceptions however Sarracenia Alata can be found growing as far west as Texas and Sarracenia Purpurea ssp Purpurea is found growing from New Jersy northwards towards the Artic circle. 

Sarracenia's can vary in form and shape from one species to another, but basically they all share a common method of attracting and capturing insects.  The plant basically consists of a trumpet like pitcher arising from a rhizome, the mouth of the pitcher is covered by a hood.  The height of the various species can vary from several cm to over 1 metre,  Along the hood and the mouth of the pitcher is secreted a nectar like substance that attracts both crawling and flying insects. 

The most abundant source of nectar is to be found just inside  The mouth of the pitcher, here a smooth inner surface offers the insects no foothold, and as the insects descend inside the pitcher they invariably lose their grip and fall into the trap.  Downward pointing hairs further in the pitcher further hamper the insects escape, eventually they die and enzymes secreted by the plant break down the soft parts of the insect and are absorbed through the inner lining of the pitcher. 

As the summer progresses it is not unusual to find the pitchers have become that full with insects that any more that fall into the trap are able to simply fly out. 

As stated earlier the basic trapping mechanism of all Sarracenia's is the same, however there are significant differences in the form individual species take.  This is further compounded by hybrids, individual species can be cross pollinated with ease producing many variants.  In the wild, location and differing flowering times, hinder cross pollination, in cultivation however this is not a barrier and many variants have been produced.