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Sarracenia
purpurea- Common Pitcher Plant (Sarraceniaceae)
The genus Sarracenia consists of eight species,
all but one of which are southeast United States, coastal plain
endemics. Sarracenia purpurea is more widespread
than the rest, occurring not only on the coastal plain but also
north to Labrador and Minnesota. On the coastal plain, the ranges
of most of the species overlap, and hybridization occurs between
the various species in the southeast areas from Virginia to Mississippi.
Sarracenia purpurea is a rhizomatous, carnivorous,
perennial plant. The leaf is strap-shaped or modified to form
a pitcher, to 10 inches long, green with red veins and terminal
lid or laminal flap. Modified leaves are used as traps. Insects
are trapped by these modified pitcher-shaped leaves and are digested
by enzymes produced by the leaves. The flower is dark red and
showy with fiddle-shaped petals. Sarracenia purpurea subsp.
purpurea -the northern ecotype, flowers in July-August;
flowers dark red; especially common in northern Wisconsin.
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