Purple PitcherPlant

Sarracenia purpurea or the purple pitcher plant is a carnivorous plant native to Canada and the east coast of the united states and west to Louisiana along the gulf of Mexico. This picture was taken in the Bluethenthal Wildflower Preserve on UNC Wilmington's campus. Even though they are native to the area the ones I saw in the Preserve were planted for education purposes. Pitcher plants are carnivorous which means they are able to digest meat. The Purple pitcher plants rely on rain water to fill its base that is open on the top. After it collects water, it secretes a digestive enzyme into the water so, it can breakdown anything that slips into the water. When insects go to drink the water out of the pitcher, they slip into the water and stiff downwards pointing hairs keep the insects from escaping. Flying insects can usually find a way out of the water before they get digested but crawling insects and some flying insects get trapped and cant escape their fate.

 

The purple pitcher plant is special because it is an accentual part of at least two species of insects. a species of mosquito and a species of midge lay eggs inside the pitcher plant. When they hatch and become larvae, they feed off the nutrients from the decaying insects. Because of these larvae it helps create a small ecosystem inside of the purple pitcher plant. For some reason the enzymes produced by the plant doesn't have any effect on the two species of larvae.

 

 

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