Sarraceniaceae is a family of
pitcher plantPitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. It has been widely assumed that the various sorts of pitfall trap evolved from rolled leaves, with selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over...
s (along with Nepenthaceae), belonging to order
EricalesThe Ericales are a large and diverse order of dicotyledons, including for example tea, persimmon, blueberry, Brazil nut, and azalea. The order includes trees and bushes, lianas and herbaceous plants. Together with ordinary autophytic plants, the Ericales include chlorophyll-deficient...
(previously
NepenthalesNepenthales is a botanical name for an order of flowering plants. The name was used by the Cronquist system for an order in subclass Dilleniidae, which in the 1981 version of this system included:* order Nepenthales*: family Droseraceae...
).
The family comprises three extant genera,
SarraceniaSarracenia is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera Darlingtonia and Heliamphora....
(American Pitcher Plant, or Trumpet Pitcher),
DarlingtoniaDarlingtonia californica , also called the California Pitcher plant, Cobra Lily, or Cobra Plant, is a carnivorous plant, the sole member of the genus Darlingtonia in the family Sarraceniaceae. It is native to Northern California and Oregon, growing in bogs and seeps with cold running water...
(Cobra Lily or California Pitcher Plant), and
HeliamphoraThe genus Heliamphora contains 16 species of pitcher plants endemic to South America. The species are collectively known as sun pitchers, based on the mistaken notion that the heli of Heliamphora is from the Greek helios, meaning "sun"...
(Sun Pitcher), as well as the extinct
Archaeamphora longicerviaArchaeamphora longicervia is an extinct species of pitcher plant bearing close affinities to extant members of the family Sarraceniaceae. Fossil material assigned to this taxon originates from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation in northeastern China....
. The first two are native to
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
while
Heliamphora is native to
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
. All three are carnivorous plants that lure insects with nectar and use their elongated tube shaped leaves filled with water and digestive enzymes (or bacteria in the case of
DarlingtoniaDarlingtonia californica , also called the California Pitcher plant, Cobra Lily, or Cobra Plant, is a carnivorous plant, the sole member of the genus Darlingtonia in the family Sarraceniaceae. It is native to Northern California and Oregon, growing in bogs and seeps with cold running water...
) to catch and consume them. Many species also use downward pointing hairs and waxy secretions to make it difficult for insects to escape.
These plants grow in nutrient-poor, often acidic
soilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and...
and use the insects as a nutritional supplement. The pitchers originate from a
rhizomeIn botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
and die back during the winter dormancy. Plants of the genus Sarracenia occur mostly in
sphagnumSphagnum is a genus of between 151-350 species of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog, and sphagnum peat moss, the decaying matter underneath...
bogs.
There are several species of American pitcher plants, most having tall, narrow pitchers that are vertical or nearly so. The
Purple pitcher plantSarracenia purpurea, commonly known as the Purple pitcher plant or Side-saddle flower, is a carnivorous plant in the family Sarraceniaceae...
, however, has short, squat, bulbous pitchers close to the ground, and the Parrot pitcher plant has pitchers that grow horizontally.
The Purple pitcher plant is the
official flower of
Newfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and Labrador is a province of Canada on the country's Atlantic coast in northeastern North America. This easternmost Canadian province comprises two main parts: the island of Newfoundland off the country's eastern coast, and Labrador on the mainland to the northwest of the island.A...
.