NORTHERN PITCHERPLANT 



Sarracenia purpurea gihbosa (Rafinesque) Wherry 



One of the earliest known figures of a Sarracenia, that published 

 by Clusius in Historia Plantarum Rariorum in 1 60 1, represented this 

 subspecies. Linnaeus did not distinguish it from the southern one, but 

 Rafinesque in 1840 named it "Sarazina gibbosa". Reasons for inter- 

 preting it as a subspecies were published by Dr. Wherry in 1933. Its 

 pitchers are relatively long and narrow, with a rather small hood 

 behind the orifice, and pubescence only rarely appears on the outer 

 surface. The petal color is usually of an intense deep red, but a muta- 

 tion in which the whole plant lacks red pigment, and of which the 

 petals are bright yellow, appears occasionally. This was named Sar- 

 racenia heterophylla by Eaton, but is now regarded as deserving at most 

 only the status of a form. 



A related plant, characterized by the presence of elongated rhi- 

 zomes, has recently been named Sarracenia purpurea stolonifera by Drs. 

 John M. Macfarlane and D. Walter Steckbeck. It does not differ from 

 the others in leaves or flowers sufficiently to be included here. 



The specimen sketched came from the bogs of eastern Maryland. 



PLATE II 



