Sarracenia purpurea

Product Info

Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea)
Pitcherplant Family

Purple Pitcher plant is the most widespread of all our native North American Pitcher Plants. It has a squat habit compared to other species, often not getting taller than 12". Flowers are a rich reddish-purple and are open for pollination for just a couple of weeks in mid-spring. Sepals remain attractive long after flowering is done. Leaves are highly modified to be tubular in order to catch rainwater and potential prey. Pitchers are not formed until after flowering so that there is no chance of plants catching their pollinators. This species has a wide, skyward facing opening that is designed to collect rainwater to drown its prey. This species cannot digest prey on its own, but rather relies on other microorganisms to break down prey once drowned. These are outdoor plants that have very specific conditions needed to survive.

*No fertilizer ever
*Rain water or reverse osmosis filtered water only
*Must be kept consistently moist (does not need to be in sitting water constantly)
*Growing in pots is best--75% sphagnum peat moss, 25% coarse sand *Overwinter outside (smaller pots can be moved closer to homes for protection)
*Do not remove spent pitchers until late winter (they may look unsightly, but they are still absorbing nutrients)

Blooms: Maroon, 1-2 weeks, April-May
Leaves: Highly modified leaves form as pitchers--strong purple color--lots of variation in color
Height:12-18"
Space: 1-2'
Soil: Wet-Moist, acidic, low nutrient peat
Exposure:  Full sun
Fauna:  Plants do not "eat" their pollinators--bees are the main pollinators
Seeds: Flowers are replaces with seed capsules that have several small seeds--readily cross pollinates with other Sarracenia sp. 
Deer resistance: High
Zone: 6-9
Native Status: NC, common in the Coastal Plain, rare in the Piedmont.
Provenance: Commercially available seed, seed grown