Sarracenia purpurea
Encyclopedia
Sarracenia purpurea, commonly known as the purple pitcher plant, northern pitcher plant, or side-saddle flower, is a carnivorous plant
in the family Sarraceniaceae
. Its range includes almost the entire eastern seaboard
of the United States
, the Great Lakes
, and south eastern Canada
, making it the most common and broadly distributed pitcher plant
, as well as the only member of the genus that inhabits cold temperate
climates. The species is the floral emblem of the Canadian
province of Newfoundland and Labrador
.
, S. purpurea obtains most of its nutrients through prey capture. However, prey acquisition is said to be inefficient, with less than 1% of the visiting prey captured within the pitcher. Even so, anecdotal evidence by growers often shows that pitchers quickly fill up with prey during the warm summer months. Prey fall into the pitcher and drown in the rainwater that collects in the base of each leaf. Prey items such as flies
, ant
s, spider
s, and even moth
s, are then digested by an invertebrate community, made up mostly by the mosquito Wyeomyia smithii
and the midge Metriocnemus knabi
. Protist
s, rotifer
s (including Habrotrocha rosa
), and bacteria form the base of inquiline
food web
that shreds and mineralizes available prey, making nutrients available to the plant. New pitcher leaves do produce digestive enzyme
s such as hydrolase
s and protease
s, but as the individual leaves get older into their second year, digestion of prey material is aided by the community of bacteria that live within the pitchers.
, S. purpurea subsp. purpurea and S. purpurea subsp. venosa. The former is found from New Jersey
north and requires a winter dormancy
, while the latter is found from New Jersey
south and tolerates warmer temperatures.
In 1999, Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. burkii was described as a species of its own: Sarracenia rosea
. This re-ranking has been debated among carnivorous plant
enthusiasts since then, but further morphological
evidence has supported the split. The following species and infraspecific taxa
are usually recognized:
Carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...
in the family Sarraceniaceae
Sarraceniaceae
Sarraceniaceae is a family of pitcher plants , belonging to order Ericales .The family comprises three extant genera: Sarracenia , Darlingtonia , and Heliamphora . The extinct Archaeamphora longicervia may also belong to this family...
. Its range includes almost the entire eastern seaboard
Eastern seaboard
An Eastern seaboard can mean any easternmost part of a continent, or its countries, states and/or cities.Eastern seaboard may also refer to:* East Coast of Australia* East Coast of the United States* Eastern Seaboard of Thailand-See also:...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
, and south eastern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, making it the most common and broadly distributed pitcher plant
Pitcher plant
Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. It has been widely assumed that the various sorts of pitfall trap evolved from rolled leaves, with selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over...
, as well as the only member of the genus that inhabits cold temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
climates. The species is the floral emblem of the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
.
Description
Like other species of SarraceniaSarracenia
Sarracenia is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera Darlingtonia and Heliamphora....
, S. purpurea obtains most of its nutrients through prey capture. However, prey acquisition is said to be inefficient, with less than 1% of the visiting prey captured within the pitcher. Even so, anecdotal evidence by growers often shows that pitchers quickly fill up with prey during the warm summer months. Prey fall into the pitcher and drown in the rainwater that collects in the base of each leaf. Prey items such as flies
Diptera
Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...
, ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s, spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s, and even moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s, are then digested by an invertebrate community, made up mostly by the mosquito Wyeomyia smithii
Wyeomyia smithii
Wyeomyia smithii, the pitcher plant mosquito, is an inquiline invertebrate found only in the phytotelma of the purple pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea. In this microcommunity of bacteria, rotifers, protozoa, and midges, W...
and the midge Metriocnemus knabi
Metriocnemus knabi
Metriocnemus knabi, the pitcher plant midge, is an inquiline invertebrate found only in the phytotelma of the purple pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea. In this microcommunity of bacteria, rotifers, protozoa, and other dipteran larva like Wyeomyia smithii, M...
. Protist
Protist
Protists are a diverse group of eukaryotic microorganisms. Historically, protists were treated as the kingdom Protista, which includes mostly unicellular organisms that do not fit into the other kingdoms, but this group is contested in modern taxonomy...
s, rotifer
Rotifer
The rotifers make up a phylum of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John Harris in 1696, and other forms were described by Anton van Leeuwenhoek in 1703...
s (including Habrotrocha rosa
Habrotrocha rosa
Habrotrocha rosa is a bdelloid rotifer that has been found in leaf litter, soil, and moss in Europe and New Zealand and also in North America within the pitchers of Sarracenia purpurea, the purple pitcher plant. It is one of many species that make up the inquiline community that thrives within the...
), and bacteria form the base of inquiline
Inquiline
In zoology, an inquiline is an animal that lives commensally in the nest, burrow, or dwelling place of an animal of another species. For example, some organisms such as insects may live in the homes of gophers and feed on debris, fungi, roots, etc...
food web
Food web
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
that shreds and mineralizes available prey, making nutrients available to the plant. New pitcher leaves do produce digestive enzyme
Digestive enzyme
'Digestive enzymes' are enzymes that break down polymeric macromolecules into their smaller building blocks, in order to facilitate their absorption by the body. Digestive enzymes are found in the digestive tract of animals where they aid in the digestion of food as well as inside the cells,...
s such as hydrolase
Hydrolase
In biochemistry, a hydrolase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of a chemical bond. For example, an enzyme that catalyzed the following reaction is a hydrolase:-Nomenclature:...
s and protease
Protease
A protease is any enzyme that conducts proteolysis, that is, begins protein catabolism by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds that link amino acids together in the polypeptide chain forming the protein....
s, but as the individual leaves get older into their second year, digestion of prey material is aided by the community of bacteria that live within the pitchers.
Taxonomy
The species is further divided into two subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
, S. purpurea subsp. purpurea and S. purpurea subsp. venosa. The former is found from New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
north and requires a winter dormancy
Dormancy
Dormancy is a period in an organism's life cycle when growth, development, and physical activity are temporarily stopped. This minimizes metabolic activity and therefore helps an organism to conserve energy. Dormancy tends to be closely associated with environmental conditions...
, while the latter is found from New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
south and tolerates warmer temperatures.
In 1999, Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. burkii was described as a species of its own: Sarracenia rosea
Sarracenia rosea
Sarracenia rosea is a species of pitcher plant in the genus Sarracenia and is sometimes known as Burke's Southern Pitcher Plant. It was previously classified as a variety of S. purpurea subsp. venosa . The proposition for the plant to be named a new species arose in 1999...
. This re-ranking has been debated among carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...
enthusiasts since then, but further morphological
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
evidence has supported the split. The following species and infraspecific taxa
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
are usually recognized:
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. purpurea
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. purpurea f. heterophylla
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. purpurea f. ruplicola (invalid)
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. burkii [=S. rosea]
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. burkii f. luteola
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. montana
- Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. burkii [=S. rosea]
External links
- Sarracenia purpurea at Barry Rice's carnivorous plant FAQ.
- Botanical Society of America, Sarracenia - the Pitcher Plants