Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 145 



PITCHER PLANT FAMILY (Sarraceniaceae) 



A small family of bog-inhabiting plants having hol- 

 low pitcher-formed or trumpet-shaped leaves. 



PITCHER PLANT; HUNTSMAN'S CUP (Sarracen- 



ia purpurea). Few plants are as little known, general- 

 ly as this species. It is one of the most interesting 

 ones that we have. The shapes of both the leaves and 

 blossoms are clearly shown in the opposite picture. The 

 pitchers, or basal leaves, may number from three to a 

 dozen, all radiating from the root and all with the 

 orifice up. An examination shows that each pitcher 

 is partially filled with water. Just below the rim of 

 the leaf, on the inside, is a sticky substance to at- 

 tract insects; as these enter, they pass downwards 

 over countless little hairs, all pointing downwards. 

 These make it very difficult for insects to crawl out 

 of the pitcher, and many of them become exhausted 

 and are drowned in the water. As these insects de- 

 compose, they are absorbed by the plant. On ac- 

 count of its killing insects and afterwards devouring 

 them by absorption, the Pitcher Plant is often class- 

 ed as a carnivorous species. 



Pitcher Plants grow in boggy places, where Spag- 

 num Moss abounds; of course such places may be- 

 come quite dry during the summer. This, however, 

 does not discommode the plant in the least, as it 

 carries its reservoir with it. In cold weather we find 

 the pitchers with the water frozen within them. 



No less peculiar is the flower of this plant, a sin- 

 gle blossom, borne on a long, hollow, erect scape, dur- 

 ing May and June. The five sepals are thick and pur- 

 plish; the delicate hanging petals are dull pink; the 

 pistil is umbrella-like and surrounded by numerous 

 stamens. The Pitcher Plant is local in bogs from 

 Labrador to Manitoba and southwards. 



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