The Endangered Status of the Red Pitcher Plant

Taxonomy

• The taxonomy of pitcher plants is a botanically complex and contentious issue. Some authors chose to refer to all plants within the complex as Sarracenia rubra. More commonly, the Sarracenia species complex is treated as three species (S. alabamensis, S. jonesii, S. rubra) and two subspecies (S. alabamensis subsp. wherryi and S. rubra subsp. gulfensis) or, alternatively, as five subspecies of Sarracenia rubra.

Characteristics

• The red pitcher plant, like all other pitcher plants, is a carnivorous plant that traps and kills insect and insect-like prey. It relies on vibrant leaf colors, horizontally oriented lids that serve as landing pads and sweet smelling flowers to entice insects. Nutrients from insects are absorbed and used to nourish the plant. The various types of red pitcher plants vary in color, size and degree of venation, but all are approximately 15 to 24 inches tall and produce flowers that are deep red to maroon in color.

Habitat and Distribution

• Red pitcher plants grow almost exclusively in the southeastern United States, within North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. These plants prefer flat, swampy, moist areas, such as bogs and marshlands, and along streams. They thrive in full sunlight and in soil heavily mixed with peat. The red pitcher plant needs a variety of seasons to ensure its survival; consequently it does not grow south of the Florida panhandle.

Species Pressure

• All types of the red pitcher plant face numerous conservation pressures, which have contributed to their rapid and continual decline, despite their protected status. Habitat encroachment from human development and invasive species, pollution, as well as changing hydrology and fire regimes, are a few of the more common problems threatening the survival of the species. Illegal poaching of the red pitcher plant is also becoming more common. Many cultivated forms of rare red pitcher plants, such as Sarracenia jonesii, are likely originally derived from stolen plants.