Pitcher Plants   GENUS Sarracenia

Sarracenia oreophila

Being listed as an endangered species in CITES, the plants are confined to a handful of modest populations in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. The plants are sometimes referred to as mountain pitcher plant because of the general habitat of the species. Formerly considered a form of S. flave, the pitcher shape shows a great deal of similarity. Erect pitcher leaves are light green with clear dark-red veins  when newly emerged, and grow to 50-70 cm tall in nature. The plants produce a yellow flower in early May in the northern Alabama habitat. Unlike S. flava, new spring leaves are already formed and functional at the time of flower in this species.

The picture below shows healthy pitcher production of the new season in early May. The flowers are about to bloom in a week or so, judging from the large swollen buds. The temporal separation of pollinator/prey blatantly abandoned, apparently. Flower scapes are as high as the general height of the pitcher openings, again, failing to provide the spatial separation for visiting pollinators.

Even in this modest-size population of only 100 plants or so in northern Alabama, some variations have been observed in the lid shape of the pitcher. Generally, the pitcher of S. flava has a more sharply rolled neck column leading to the lid. This makes the neck wider for S. oreophila in comparison.

In late summer, the plants produce a short, sharply curved flat leaves known as phyllodia. This is a characteristic of this species.

Introduction  Venus Flytrap  Sundews  Pitcher Plants  Cobra Plant  Butterworts  Bladderworts