SARRACENIACEAE 



PITCHER PLANT FAMILY 



PITCHER PLANT. HUNTSMAN'S CUP 



Sarracenia purpurea L. 



This lone Pitcher Phint of the north is found throughout 

 the Great Lakes region, eastern Canada and the northwestern 

 states, and in Illinois the northern peat bogs. It produces a 

 rosette of pitcher-shaped 

 leaves which may be en- 

 tirely green but more often 

 are streaked with red or 

 purple. These curious 

 leaves are usually partly 

 filled with water and 

 trapped insects, the prod- 

 uct of whose decay the 

 plant absorbs and uses as 

 part of its food supply. 



Entrance to the 

 pitchers is easy and in- 

 sects often go in, perhaps 

 merely by chance or per- 

 haps attracted by the 

 bright colors. Egress, 

 however, is almost im- 

 possible because the 

 rounded arching hood a 

 the upper end of the 

 pitcher is lined inside with 



numerous short hairs which point downward. Most of the in- 

 sects sooner or later get into the water and drown. On the other 

 hand, several kinds ot insects live or breed in the water in these 

 pitchers. 



The nodding flowers, which appear on i-2-foot scapes in June, 

 are deep purple, nearly globose and i inches or more in diameter. 

 Each consists ot 5 sepals, which remain while the fruit matures, 

 5 incurved obovate petals, numerous stamens and a pistil which 

 has a 5-celled ovary, i short yellowish style and a broad um- 

 brella-shaped summit with 5 little hooked stigmas. Beneath the 

 calyx are 5 little bracts colored like the sepals. 



137 



