The Plant Collector: Sarracenias

As a general rule, we tend to collect groups of plants.  Some of our collections have lasted and others ended up being a passing fad. One that has definitely stood the test of time, one cross country move, and two horrible Texas summers (so far) is the carnivorous plant collection.  It's a decent sized collection mainly focusing on Sarracenia (pitcher plants).  We do have a few Drosera (sundews), Nepenthes (tropical pitcher plants) and Dionaea (venus fly traps).

Sarracenia are native to the United States and have leaves that have evolved into a tube shape.  Insects are attracted to this funnel using a combination of colors and scent.  The slippery surface of the leaves causes the insects to fall into the pitcher, where they die and are then digested by the plant.

 
Right now the Sarracenias are starting to come out of dormancy.  We lost a lot of plants this year, but we also have more blooms than we have ever had before.  We'll share those in a latter post, but the flowers are just as unique as the pitchers.