Sarracenia purpurea (Purple Pitcher Plant)

Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea)

Height, Spread: 0.9-1.5 ft, 1-2 ft

Water/Soil: Moist-wet, acidic, sand and peat mixture

Light: Full sun

Bloom: Spring-summer, showy pink, green, or purple, solitary flower

Native Range: Eastern North America

Qualities: Carnivorous, Attractive to pollinators, NC Native

Notes: Herbaceous evergreen perennial found in seepages, sphagnum bogs, and wet savannas in the Piedmont and Coastal Plains regions and several counties in the Mountain region. Listed as state-endangered, an estimated 97.5% of pitcher plant habitat has been destroyed in the Southeast USA. Purple Pitcher plants are also threatened by overharvesting. They are attractive to pollinators, with a showy solitary flower, which is far from the carnivorous pitchers. They are best planted in an outdoor bog garden (you can make one with a pond liner and a 50/50 peat and sand mix) or in containers. Moist conditions must be maintained at all times for them to thrive. As they are carnivorous, they don't need fertilizer and will respond poorly to it.