Sarraceniaceae are a family of pitcher plants, belonging to order Ericales (previously

Nepenthales Nepenthales (Nepenthales Bercht. & J.Presl) is an order of carnivorous flowering plants in the Cronquist system of plant classification. Cronquist system The order was placed in the subclass Dilleniidae, which in the 1981 version of this s ...

). The family comprises three

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

genera: ''

Sarracenia ''Sarracenia'' ( or ) is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants, commonly called trumpet pitchers. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera '' Darlingtonia'' an ...

'' (North American pitcher plants), '' Darlingtonia'' (the cobra lily or California pitcher plant), and '' Heliamphora'' (sun pitchers). The

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Archaeamphora longicervia ''Archaeamphora longicervia'' is a fossil plant species, the only member of the genus ''Archaeamphora''. Fossil material assigned to this taxon originates from the Yixian Formation of northeastern China, dated to the Early Cretaceous (around ...

'' may also belong to this family, although later studies question that interpretation. All three are

carnivorous plants 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 still generate some of their energy from photosynthesis ...

that lure insects with nectar and use their elongated, tube-shaped leaves filled with water and digestive enzymes to catch and consume them. Digestive enzymes are not always produced by the plants themselves. Digestive

mutualisms Mutualism describes the ecological interaction between two or more species where each species has a net benefit. Mutualism is a common type of ecological interaction. Prominent examples include most vascular plants engaged in mutualistic intera ...

are common in Sarraceniaceae: both ''Sarracenia'' and ''Darlingtonia'' rely on

commensal Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit fro ...

bacteria to supplement or produce all of their enzymes. Many species also use downward-pointing hairs and waxy secretions to make it difficult for insects to escape. ''Sarracenia'' and ''Darlingtonia'' are native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, while ''Heliamphora'' is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

. Previous phylogenetic analysis suggests that the family originated in South America about 47 million years ago and spread to North America soon after, about 35 million years ago. The ''Sarracenia'' and ''Heliamphora'' clade diverged from ''Darlingtonia'' around this time, most likely due to a cooling event at the beginning of the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...

. ''Sarracenia'' diverged from ''Heliamphora'' later, around 23 million years ago. However, recent study found that the divergence times in Sarraceniaceae could be much older. The family could have originated about 88 million years ago during Late Cretaceous. The ''Sarracenia'' and ''Heliamphora'' clade could have diverged from ''Darlingtonia'' around 54 million years ago during Early Eocene. ''Sarracenia'' and ''Heliamphora'' could have split around 36 million years ago during Late Eocene. These plants grow in nutrient-poor, often acidic

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...

and use the insects as a nutritional supplement. As such, growth of carnivorous pitchers is plastic: as soil nitrogen increases, ''Sarracenia'' produces fewer pitchers. The pitchers originate from a

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow ...

and die back during the winter dormancy. Plants of the genus ''Sarracenia'' occur mostly in ''

Sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s. Most Sarraceniaceae have tall, narrow pitchers that are vertical or nearly so. ''

Sarracenia purpurea ''Sarracenia purpurea'', the purple pitcher plant, northern pitcher plant, turtle socks, or side-saddle flower, is a carnivorous plant in the family Sarraceniaceae. Description Like other species of ''Sarracenia'', ''S. purpurea'' obtains most ...

'', however, has short, squat, bulbous pitchers close to the ground, and '' Sarracenia psittacina'' has pitchers that grow horizontally. The purple pitcher plant (''Sarracenia purpurea'') is the official flower of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. File:H folliculata 2.jpg, '' Heliamphora'' File:Darlingtonia californica ne1.JPG, ''

Darlingtonia californica ''Darlingtonia californica'' , also called the California pitcher plant, cobra lily, or cobra plant, is a species of carnivorous plant. It is the sole member of the genus ''Darlingtonia'' in the family Sarraceniaceae. This pitcher plant is nat ...

'' File:Sarracenia rubra ne.JPG, ''

'' File:Lebia grandis.jpg, '' Lebia grandis'' trapped by ''

''. File:Dicyrtomina minuta.jpg, '' Dicyrtomina minuta'' (

Collembola Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called ...

) trapped by ''Sarracenia purpurea''. File:Sarracenia. Idia.jpg, Moth, ''

Idia lubricalis ''Idia lubricalis'', the glossy black idia, is a litter moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Geyer in 1832. It is found from Canada south to Florida and Texas in deciduous forests In the fields of hortic ...

'' in ''Sarracenia purpurea''. File:Sarraceniaceae combined maximum likelihood phylogeny.png, Combined

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

plastid The plastid (Greek: πλαστός; plastós: formed, molded – plural plastids) is a membrane-bound organelle found in the cells of plants, algae, and some other eukaryotic organisms. They are considered to be intracellular endosymbiotic cyan ...

and

mitochondrial A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used t ...

phylogeny of Sarraceniaceae File:Sarraceniaceae chronogram.png, Sarraceniaceae chronogram based on combined data

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q834427 Ericales families