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Flowering Purple Pitcher Plant
The purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea). is the most common and widely distributed of all the pitcher plant varieties. This one was found in the Bluenthal Wildflower preserve on UNCW campus. The range of the plant is distributed to the north and along the east coast. This plant uses specialized leaves to capture and digest insects. This is an adaptation to living in nitrogen poor soil. This plant also has to use insects for pollination, which is a problem for a plant that eats insects. To overcome this problem the flowers of the pitcher plant are highly modified to attract pollinators without leading them to the pitcher traps. The flowers are physically located away from the rest of the plant. They form an umbrella like structure with the leaves. The leaves and petals will shed quickly, and will shed after spring, leaving the rest of the structure in tact. This flower is still mostly in tact. The yellow stamen that surround the base of the ovary still haven't all fallen off yet. Somehow a large mosquito has managed to get itself stuck in the flowering part of this carnivorous plant providing an interesting example of predation.
Flowering Purple Pitcher Plant
The purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea). is the most common and widely distributed of all the pitcher plant varieties. This one was found in the Bluenthal Wildflower preserve on UNCW campus. The range of the plant is distributed to the north and along the east coast. This plant uses specialized leaves to capture and digest insects. This is an adaptation to living in nitrogen poor soil. This plant also has to use insects for pollination, which is a problem for a plant that eats insects. To overcome this problem the flowers of the pitcher plant are highly modified to attract pollinators without leading them to the pitcher traps. The flowers are physically located away from the rest of the plant. They form an umbrella like structure with the leaves. The leaves and petals will shed quickly, and will shed after spring, leaving the rest of the structure in tact. This flower is still mostly in tact. The yellow stamen that surround the base of the ovary still haven't all fallen off yet. Somehow a large mosquito has managed to get itself stuck in the flowering part of this carnivorous plant providing an interesting example of predation.