Sarracenia purpurea, purple pitcherplant
Walkup, Crystal. Sarracenia purpurea, purple pitcherplant. 1991. 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/sarpur
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| SARPUR | purple pitcherplant | Sarracenia purpurea | 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 purple pitcherplant is Sarracenia purpurea L. Recognized varieties are [25]:
- Sarracenia purpurea var. montana D.E. Schnell & Determann, mountain purple pitcherplant
- Sarracenia purpurea var. purpurea, northern purple pitcherplant
- Sarracenia purpurea var. venosa (Raf.) Fernald, southern purple pitcherplant
Natural hybrids normally occur in disturbed areas, indicating hybrid viability may be positively correlated with soil disturbance. Naturally occurring hybrids are [9,18]:
- Sarracenia purpurea X Sarracenia alata = Sarracenia exornata
- Sarracenia purpurea X Sarracenia flava = Sarracenia catesbaei
- Sarracenia purpurea X Sarracenia leucophylla = Sarracenia mitchelliana
- Sarracenia purpurea X Sarracenia minor = Sarracenia swaniana
- Sarracenia purpurea X Sarracenia rubra = Sarracenia chelsonii
Synonyms
- Sarracenia heterophylla Eaton, northern purple pitcherplant
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. purpurea forma heterophylla (Eaton) Fern., northern purple pitcherplant
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. purpurea Wherry, northern purple pitcherplant
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa Raf., southern purple pitcherplant [22]
Other Common Names
flytrap, sidesaddle plant, Huntsman's cup, frog's britches, mountain purple pitcherplant, northern purple pitcherplant, southern purple pitcherplant
General Distribution
Purple pitcherplant occurs from Florida to Mississippi, north to Virginia and Maryland, west to Iowa and north to Manitoba, Hudson Bay, and Labrador [18]. Its range extends as far west as northeastern British Columbia [21]. Populations are scattered throughout Georgia and southern South Carolina but become more abundant from northern South Carolina to Virginia and Maryland [18]. The break between the northern and southern varieties occurs in central New Jersey [16].
States and Provinces
- United States: AL CT DE FL GA IL IN IA ME MD MA MI MN MS NH NJ NY NC OH PA RI SC VT VA WV WI
- Canada: AB BC MB NB NF NS ON PE PQ SK
Site Characteristics
Purple pitcherplant characteristically occurs in bogs, savannas, and flatwoods. The very wettest parts of bogs are favored, often restricting the species to the edges of bogs [18]. Purple pitcherplant forms dense, floating mats on the water at the edges of bog ponds and lakes and across acid streams [9,12,22]. Along the Gulf Coast Sarracenia species are often associated with Sphagnum, sundew (Drosera sp.), butterwort (Pinguicula sp.), pipewort (Eriocaulon sp.), bladderwort (Utricularia sp.), grass-pink (Calopogon sp.), burmannia (Burmannia sp.), and other genera characteristic of acid sites [18].
Purple pitcherplant is adapted to poor soils that are deficient in trace elements such as molybdenum. These elements may be obtained from the captured insects and amphibians [19]. Soils are usually highly acidic and unsuitable for many other plants. Purple pitcherplant, however, does not require acidic soils for growth, and it occasionally occurs in alkaline marl bogs around the Great Lakes [22,23]. Both ombrotrophic and minerotrophic peat sites are occupied [3].
Plant Communities
No entry.
Botanical Description
Purple pitcherplant.
Purple pitcherplant is a native, perennial, carnivorous forb. The evergreen leaves are modified into pitchers and arranged in a rosette [23]. The pitchers are curved and decumbent, measuring to 17.7 inches (45 cm) and widening prominently toward the mouth. The hood on the pitcher is positioned vertically, resulting in the pitcher usually being full or partly full of rainwater [13]. Leaf color varies from bright yellow-green to dark purple and is most commonly a middle variation with strong red venation. Flower petals, sepals, and bracts are rose pink to dark red [22]. Flowers are solitary, and terminate a scape arising from the rhizome. At anthesis the scape is recurved near the apex. The fruit is a capsule with laterally winged seeds [18].
Raunkiaer Life Form (Raunkiaer 1934)
- Geophyte
Seasonal Development
Purple pitcherplant begins flowering along the Gulf Coast in early to mid-March. Farther north, blooming occurs from late July to early August [18]. The leaves, or pitchers, are produced each year from stems arising from the rhizomes and remain evergreen unless unduly exposed [22]. Individual rhizomes may live for 20 to 30 years [18].
Regeneration Processes
Reproduction is typically by seeds but may also occur by fragmentation of the rhizomes [9,18]. Bees are the main pollinators. Though normally polytropic, during the peak of Sarracenia flowering, the bees are effectively monotropic, visiting only Sarracenia species, at least where there are large stands of flowers [9]. Bare ground is vital for seedling establishment [12].
Successional Status
Plant succession on purple pitcherplant bogs is toward a sedge-woody species dominated community. Fire, however, retards this succession and purple pitcherplant bogs are thought to be fire disclimaxes [6]. Purple pitcherplant is successional to sphagnum in the bogs of Isle Royale, Michigan [4].
Immediate Fire Effects
Purple pitcherplant is usually top-killed by fire. Severe fires may burn into the peat layer and destroy the rhizomes, thereby killing the plant [18,22].
Postfire Regeneration Strategy (Stickney 1989)
- Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
Fire Adaptations
Fire is beneficial to purple pitcherplant in many ways. Periodic, moderate fires are necessary to reduce the encroachment of competing plants and stimulate growth by releasing nutrients bound up in organic matter [8].
Purple pitcherplant survives fire by resprouting from underground rhizomes.
Plant Response to Fire
Purple pitcherplant resprouts from underground rhizomes following fire. It is well adapted to moderate fire in the South [18,22].
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
Moth larvae infestations may be controlled by burning the previous year's purple pitcherplant litter. Highly infested stands are frequently those protected from fire [22]. Fire suppression also leads to less frequent, severe fires which damage species normally considered to be fire tolerant. Fire is a natural event in carnivorous plant habitats, and this must be considered when managing these areas [8].
The season that fire occurs in may influence the floristic composition of purple pitcherplant bogs. Historically, summer fires were frequent, probably occurring as a result of lightning. At present, most fires are caused by man and occur during the winter. Data on the effects of this shift are lacking; however, winter fires would seem less effective in opening space for seed germination of bog species [9].
Federal Status
None
Other Status
Sarracenia purpurea is listed as endangered in Georgia, Illinois, and Michigan [11,24].
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
Purple pitcherplants, although carnivorous, are also beneficial to several insect species. Ants, wasps, bees, butterflies, and moths are attracted to purple pitcherplant by its nectar. Beetles and spiders visit the plants to prey on other insects. Spiders may spin a web inside the pitcher to catch insects which fall inside [16]. Some flies live in the pitchers, feeding on decomposing insects [9]. The larvae of a small, nonbiting mosquito live only in the liquid held by purple pitcherplant. Unlike most insects, these larvae are neither killed nor digested in the pitcher fluid [9,26].
Purple pitcherplant obtains prey species that are quite different from that of other Sarracenia species. A large number of grasshoppers, crickets, and snails are captured. Microhabitat segregation exists among Sarracenia species in the same bog and may influence the types of prey obtained [9].
Palatability and Nutritional Value
No entry.
Cover Value
No entry.
Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites
Runoff from road-salt storage piles into an adjacent bog killed several native bog species, which allowed the invasion of cattails (Typha latifolia) and weedy annuals. Several bog species, including purple pitcherplant, were successfully transplanted to damaged areas using "living mats" from unimpacted areas of the bog. Component species of the mats included Sphagnum mosses, small cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos), purple pitcherplant, narrow-leaf sundew (Drosera intermedia), and leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata augustifolia) [27].
Other Uses
The unique beauty and unusual mode of life of purple pitcherplants make them desirable as houseplants [8].
Other Management Considerations
The larvae of several moth species feed on or burrow in purple pitcherplant, sometimes infesting large areas and severely damaging the population [26].
Collection of wild purple pitcherplants for sale has resulted in localized extinction in some areas. A number of dealers currently specialize in cultivating carnivorous plants, but collecting is still a problem, since it is less costly [8].
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)
- FRES10 White - red - jack pine
- FRES11 Spruce - fir
- 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
- K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
- K094 Conifer bog
- K095 Great Lakes pine forest
- K111 Oak - hickory pine forest
- K112 Southern mixed forest
- K113 Southern floodplain forest
- K114 Pocosin
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 5 Balsam fir
- 12 Black spruce
- 13 Black spruce - tamarack
- 37 Northern white cedar
- 38 Tamarack
- 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
- 103 Water tupelo - swamp tupelo
- 104 Sweetbay - swamp tupelo - redbay
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- No entry.
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