Sarracenia purpurea L. (purple pitcher plant), modified leaves and petioles showing entrapping fluid inside
3.79453
digital color photograph
Born digital
Photographic image
2005 – 2012
Sarracenia purpurea L. (purple pitcher plant), wetland (both bog and fen) wildflower, carnivorous plant, a sprawling cluster of unusual tubular basal leaves and bare stout flowering stems up to 2' tall with a single nodding flower atop each stem, leaves are up to 8" long and unusually strongly marked with purple, they are inflated fluid-filled tubes with an irregular wing along the length and a narrow hooded mouth, each flower is up to 3" wide and has 3 or 4 small bracts flanking 5 broad thick purplish green sepals each about 1.5" long, there are 5 deep reddish papery petals up to 2" long that fall off soon after the flower opens, inside the flower is a conspicuous stalked 5-sided disk up to 3" wide surrounded by yellow-tipped stamens, the leaves have downward pointing hairs on the inside so that insects become trapped and drown in the watery leaf fluid thereby feeding the plant with nutrients
