''Sarracenia oreophila'', also known as the green pitcherplant, is a

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, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They have adapted to grow in waterlo ...

in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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'' and '' ...

''. It has highly modified leaves in the form of pitchers that act as pitfall traps for prey. The narrow pitcher leaves are tapered tubes that rise up to from the ground, with a mouth in circumference U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (March, 2003) http://www.fws.gov/cookeville/docs/endspec/pitchsa.html Like all the ''Sarracenia'', it is native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. ''Sarracenia oreophila'' is the most endangered of all ''Sarracenia'' species, its range limited to a handful of sites in northern

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and—historically—

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Origin of name

''Saracenia oreophila'' takes its name from the mountainous regions where it grows. The generic name ''Sarracenia'' is from Michel Sarrazin 659–1734 a French-Canadian naturalist who first described a specimen of the genus, and ''oreophila'' literally means "mountain-loving," from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

'' oreophilos'' (''oros, -eos'', "mountain," + ''philos'', "loving").

Morphology and carnivory

Like other members of the genus ''Sarracenia'', the green pitcher plant traps insects using a tubular rolled leaf which collects digestive juices at the bottom. The pitcher tube of this species is similar to that of ''

Sarracenia flava ''Sarracenia flava'', the yellow pitcherplant, is a carnivorous plant in the family Sarraceniaceae. Like all the Sarraceniaceae, it is native to the New World. Its range extends from southern Alabama, through Florida and Georgia (U.S. state), Ge ...

'', but has a wider pitcher mouth and neck and is usually somewhat shorter, reaching only 60 cm. (24 in). The uppermost part of the leaf is flared into a lid (the operculum), which prevents excess rain from entering the pitcher and diluting the digestive secretions within. The upper regions of the pitcher are covered in short, stiff, downwards-pointing hairs, which serve to guide

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s alighting on the upper portions of the leaf towards the opening of the pitcher tube. The opening of the pitcher tube is retroflexed into a 'nectar roll' or

peristome Peristome (from the Greek language, Greek ''peri'', meaning 'around' or 'about', and ''stoma'', 'mouth') is an anatomical feature that surrounds an opening to an organ or structure. Some plants, fungi, and shelled gastropods have peristomes. In mo ...

, whose surface is studded with

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

-secreting glands. Prey entering the tube find that their footing is made extremely uncertain by the smooth, waxy secretions found on the surfaces of the upper portion of the tube. Insects losing their footing on this surface plummet to the bottom of the tube, where a combination of digestive fluid, wetting agents and inward-pointing hairs prevent their escape. Some large insects (such as

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

s) have been reported to escape from the pitchers on occasion by chewing their way out through the wall of the tube.Flora of North America, ''Sarracenia oreophila'' Wherry, 1933. Green pitcher plant
/ref> Pitchers can vary from all green plants to lightly and heavily veined examples, as well as

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s with heavily pigmented throats. Traps also take on a pink or red flush as they age.

Flowers

:''See also the section on ''Sarracenia'' flowers in the main article''. In spring, the plant produces large, yellow

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s with 5-fold

symmetry Symmetry () in everyday life refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, the term has a more precise definition and is usually used to refer to an object that is Invariant (mathematics), invariant und ...

. The yellow

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s are long and strap-like, and dangle over the

umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...

-like style of the flower, which is held upside down at the end of a 50 cm long scape. The stigma of the flower are found at the tips of the 'spokes' of this umbrella. Pollinating insects generally enter the flower from above, forcing their way into the cavity between the petals and umbrella, and depositing any pollen they are carrying on the stigmata as they enter. The pollinators generally exit the flower, having been dusted with the plant's own pollen, by lifting a petal. This one-way system helps to ensure cross pollination.

Growth cycle

In late summer and autumn, the plant stops producing carnivorous leaves, and instead produces flat, non-carnivorous phyllodia. In this species, these are highly recurved, short, and sickle-shaped. The natural habitat of this species dries quickly during July and the small phyllodia are probably easier to maintain with the little water available than its spring pitchers. This is a genetic adaptation and plants kept permanently wet in cultivation also lose their pitchers in mid summer. Also of note is the simultaneous flowering and pitchering at the beginning of the season as drier conditions prevent later growth of pitchers post flower production.

Taxonomy

The International Carnivorous Plant Society recognizes three cultivars of this species as follows: *''S. oreophila'' 'Don Schnell' *''S. oreophila'' 'Heavily Veined' *''S. oreophila'' 'Sand Mountain' The cultivar 'Don Schnell', unfortunately, is

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

—the only specimen died in a greenhouse catastrophe.

Threats

The green pitcher plant has suffered a devastating decline throughout its former range. Development for both urban and rural uses has led to the widespread alteration of the specific bog habitat of this species. Pitcher plants have also been over-collected for the commercial plant trade; such rare and unusual species are very popular with collectors. Today, around 34 naturally occurring populations persist but these are small and highly fragmented; most consist of fewer than 50 individuals.

Conservation

Green pitcherplants are listed as Endangered on the United States

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...

and there is an Action Plan for their recovery. The Recovery Plan focuses on the effective protection of existing populations, as the most important threat to the future of the green pitcher plant is over-collection.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, International Affairs (March, 2003) http://www.fws.gov/international/ Collection is banned by legislation within the United States. The species is listed on Appendix I of the

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law ** Convention (political norm), uncodified legal or political tradition * Convention (meeting ...

(CITES), meaning commercial international trade in wild-sourced specimens (including parts and derivatives) is prohibited, while non-commercial international trade is regulated. Ex-situ conservation measures are also in place; seeds are stored at the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

National Seed Technology Laboratory in Fort Collins, and Atlanta Botanical Garden is propagating plants from seeds for future reintroduction programmes.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1552011 oreophila Carnivorous plants of North America Endemic flora of the United States Flora of Alabama Flora of North Carolina Flora of Georgia (U.S. state) Flora of Tennessee Critically endangered flora of the United States Plants described in 1933 ESA endangered species