The Pitcher Plants

	I		II		I
Sarracenia alata		Sarracenia flava		Sarracenia leucophylla		Sarracenia minor
Sarracenia oreophilla		Sarracenia psitticina		Sarracenia purpurea		Sarracenia rosea
Sarracenia rubra		Sarracenia flava Variant With Red Tubes		Hybrid of S. leucophylla and  S. rosea		S. oreophilla at Freshly Burned Site

The Western Hemisphere pitcher plants (Sarraceniaceae) are a small family of herbaceous perennials.  Tubular, pitcher-like leaves ("pitchers") enable these plants to lure, trap, digest, and absorb nutrients from a wide variety of prey, usually arthropods. Most of the species  inhabit sunny, wet, nutrient-poor sites such as bogs, seepages, and wet savannas.   Eighteen species belong to the Sarraceniaceae, partitioned in three genera.  Darlingtonia (the Cobra Pitcher Plant) contains one species located in northern California and southern Oregon.  Six species belong to Heliamphora (the sun pitcher plants), which occur in northeastern South America.  The largest genus is Sarracenia (the trumpet pitcher plants). Sarracenia has eleven species and are found in northern and eastern North America.  Our research focuses on Sarracenia, since this diverse genus contains a wealth of interesting arthropods that are largely unstudied.