Crimson Pitcher Plant
Sarracenia leucophylla
30.4157, -87.8188
Field Notes
Description:
White Top Pitcher Plant and Crimson Pitcher Plant are so closely related it may be difficult to distinguish one from the other. Since both plants have similar characteristics it generally comes down to preferred habitat; Crimson preferring direct sun while White Top likes a little shade. The White Top bears a network of greenish veins at the trumpet tip while Crimson bears a reddish network of veins.
Habitat:
Weeks Bay Pitcher Plant Bog
Notes:
The plant's leaves have evolved into a funnel in order to trap insects, digesting their prey with proteases and other enzymes. The insects are attracted by a nectar-like secretion on the lip of pitchers, as well as a combination of color and scent. Slippery footing at the pitchers' rim, aided in at least one species by a narcotic drug lacing the nectar, causes insects to fall inside, where they die and are digested by the plant as a nutrient source.
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