Sarracenia minor, hooded pitcherplant
Walkup, Crystal. 1991. Sarracenia minor, hooded pitcherplant. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/sarmin
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| SARMIN | hooded pitcherplant | Sarracenia minor | Life Form: Plants/Forb Kingdom: Plantae Class: Dicot Order: Nepenthales Family: Sarraceniaceae Genus: Sarracenia | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The currently accepted scientific name for hooded pitcherplant is Sarracenia minor Walt. Hybridization between various species of Sarracenia has been observed from southeastern Virginia to Mississippi. Populations of S. alata apparently do not overlap with S. flava or S. minor, but hybrids have been produced under greenhouse conditions [11]. Naturally occurring hybrids include:
- S. minor X S. psittacina = S. formosa
- S. minor X S. purpurea = S. swaniana
- S. minor X S. rubra = S. X rehedri
- S. minor X S. flava = S. X harperi
Synonyms
No entry.
Other Common Names
hooded pitcher-plant
General Distribution
Hooded pitcherplant's range extends from central and western Florida north to southeast North Carolina, and inland from North Carolina to northeastern Georgia. This is the only Sarracenia species extending into the Florida Peninsula [11,13].
States and Provinces
- United States: FL GA NC SC
Site Characteristics
Hooded pitcherplant has wider ecological amplitude than other Sarracenia species, and grows on both wet and dry sites. It inhabits mesic to well-drained upland savannas, wet flatwoods, and bogs [4,13]. Hooded pitcherplants reach their largest size in the very wet habitat of the Okefenokee swamp, where they grow intermixed with S. psittacina on huge floating sphagnum islands called prairies. The plants are hardier in wet substrates, indicating the drier locations are probably not preferred [13].
Along the Gulf Coast, Sarracenia species are often associated with Sphagnum, sundew (Drosera spp.), butterwort (Pinguicula spp.), pipewort (Eriocaulon spp.), bladderwort (Utricularia spp.), grass-pink (Calopogon spp.), burmannia (Burmannia spp.), and other genera characteristic of acidic sites [11].
Plant Communities
No entry.
Botanical Description
Hooded pitcherplant.
Hooded pitcherplant is a native, perennial, carnivorous forb. The hollow-shaped leaves form pitchers which have an overarching, helmet-shaped hood [7,11]. The leaves average 9.8 to 11.8 inches (25-30 cm) in length but may reach 31.5 inches (80 cm) in certain areas. Rhizomes are 0.4 to 0.8 inch (1-2 cm) thick. The flower is odorless and has pale yellow to yellow-green petals [13]. Fruits are broad and tuberculate, from 0.2 to 0.6 inch (0.8-1.8 cm) long. Seeds are very small, averaging 0.04 inch (1.1-1.3 mm) in length. Distinguishing characteristics are the translucent spots on the leaves, and the concave hood [11].
Raunkiaer Life Form (Raunkiaer 1934)
- Cryptophyte
- Geophyte
Seasonal Development
Hooded pitcherplant flowers along the Gulf Coast from late March to mid-May, blooming later in the northern range [11,13]. This is the only species in which flowering commonly occurs simultaneously with or slightly after pitcher growth. Pitchers persist all winter in sheltered stands in the southernmost range, but die back during severe winters [13].
Regeneration Processes
Reproduction is typically by seeds, but plants may regenerate vegetatively from fragmentation of the rhizomes. Bees, the main pollinators, are polytropic; however, during the peak of Sarracenia flowering, bees are effectively monotropic on sites where there are large stands of flowers, visiting only Sarracenia species [5]. Bare ground is vital for seedling establishment [7].
Successional Status
Plant succession on pitcherplant bogs is toward a sedge-woody species dominated community. Fire, however, retards this succession, and pitcherplant bogs are thought to be fire disclimaxes [2].
Immediate Fire Effects
Hooded pitcherplant is usually top-killed by fire. Severe fires may burn into the peat layer and also destroy the rhizomes, thereby killing the plant [11,13].
Postfire Regeneration Strategy (Stickney 1989)
- Survivor species; on-site surviving rhizomes
Fire Adaptations
Fire generally benefits hooded pitcherplant. Periodic, moderate fires are necessary to reduce the encroachment of competing plants and stimulate growth by releasing nutrients bound up in organic matter [5].
Hooded pitcherplant survives fire by resprouting from rhizomes [11].
Plant Response to Fire
The genus Sarracenia is well adapted to moderate fires which remove old growth, destroy competing vegetation, and help induce flowering. Density of hooded pitcherplant increased greatly following 27 years of annual burning in Georgia [11].
Fire Regimes
For fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name or acronym on the home page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
Fire suppression results in a build-up of fuels, causing severe fires which damage species normally considered to be fire tolerant, such as hooded pitcherplant. Fire is a natural event in carnivorous plant habitats and should be implemented in management plans [4].
Federal Status
None
Other Status
Hooded pitcherplant is state-listed as threatened in Florida [16].
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
A symbiotic relationship exists between hooded pitcherplant and several insect species, such as ants, moths, flies, butterflies, and wasps. Insects benefit by obtaining nectar, and the plant benefits from an occasional insect falling into the pitcher while feeding [14]. Another capture mechanism is the clear to whitish areas on the back of the pitcher, which provide the brightest light source inside the pitcher. Flying insects unsuccessfully attempt to escape through these areas [13,14]. In Florida, hooded pitcherplant captures mainly ants, which are often more abundant than other insects in the drier savannas where it grows [5,13].
Palatability and Nutritional Value
No entry.
Cover Value
No entry.
Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites
No entry.
Other Uses
Their unique beauty and unusual mode of life make hooded pitcherplants desirable as houseplants [8]. Collection of wild species has sometimes resulted in localized extinction. Almost all Sarracenia species can be obtained commercially. A number of dealers specialize almost exclusively in carnivorous plants [4].
Other Management Considerations
No entry.
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
- FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
- FRES14 Oak - pine
- FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
- FRES41 Wet grasslands
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
- No entry.
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K079 Palmetto prairie
- K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
- K112 Southern mixed forest
- K113 Southern floodplain forest
- K114 Pocosin
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 70 Longleaf pine
- 75 Shortleaf pine
- 79 Virginia pine
- 80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
- 81 Loblolly pine
- 83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
- 84 Slash pine
- 97 Atlantic white-cedar
- 98 Pond pine
- 101 Baldcypress
- 102 Baldcypress - tupelo
- 103 Water tupelo - swamp tupelo
- 104 Sweetbay - swamp tupelo - redbay
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- No entry.
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2. Eleuterius, L. N.; Jones, S. B., Jr. 1969. A floristic and ecological study of pitcher plant bogs in south Mississippi. Rhodora. 71: 29-34. [12333]
3. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
4. Folkerts, George W. 1977. Endangered and threatened carnivorous plants of North America. In: Prance, G. T.; Elias, T. S. ed, eds. Extinction is forever. Threatened and endangered species of plants in the Americas and their significance today and in t; 1976 May 11-13; New York. [Place of publication unknown]. [Publisher unknown]. 301-313. [12388]
5. Folkerts, George W. 1982. The Gulf Coast pitcher plant bogs. American Scientist. 70: 260-267. [10131]
6. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others]. 1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
7. Jones, F. M. 1921. Pitcher plants and their moths. Natural History. 21: 296-316. [12301]
8. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York: American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
9. Lloyd, F. E. 1942. The carnivorous plants. Waltham, MA: Chronica Botanica Company. 352 p. [12247]
10. Lyon, L. Jack; Stickney, Peter F. 1976. Early vegetal succession following large northern Rocky Mountain wildfires. In: Proceedings, Tall Timbers fire ecology conference and Intermountain Fire Research Council fire and land management symposium; 1974 October 8-10; Missoula, MT. No. 14. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 355-373. [1496]
11. McDaniel, Sidney. 1971. The genus Sarracenia (Sarraceniaceae). Bulletin of the Tall Timbers Research Station. 9: 1-36. [15245]
12. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
13. Schnell, Donald E. 1976. Carnivorous plants of the United States and Canada. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair. 125 p. [12292]
14. Slack, Adrian. 1979. Carnivorous plants. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. 240 p. [12293]
15. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982. National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names. SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
16. Wood, Don A., compiler. 1994. Official lists of endangered & potentially endangered fauna and flora in Florida. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. 22 p. [24196]