Sarraceniaceae are a family of

pitcher plant Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of pitcher plant are considered to be "true" pitcher plants and are formed by specialized ...

s, belonging to order

Ericales The Ericales are a large and diverse order of flowering plants in the asterid group of the eudicots. Well-known and economically important members of this order include tea and ornamental camellias, persimmon, ebony, blueberry, cranberry, l ...

(reassigned from Nepenthales). The family comprises three

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern 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 * Exta ...

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'' and '' ...

'' (North American pitcher plants), '' Darlingtonia'' (the cobra lily or California pitcher plant), and ''

Heliamphora The genus ''Heliamphora'' ( or ; Greek language, Greek: ''helos'' "marsh" and ''amphoreus'' "amphora") contains 24 species of pitcher plants endemism, endemic to South America.McPherson, S., A. Wistuba, A. Fleischmann & J. Nerz 2011. ''Sarracenia ...

'' (sun pitchers). The

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 ...

'' Archaeamphora longicervia'' may also belong to this family, although later studies question that interpretation. All three are carnivorous plants 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 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 f ...

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, 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 ...

, 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 considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. 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 (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

. ''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, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

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 Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

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, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

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 musk ...

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. Taxonomy The species is further divided into two subspecies, ''S. purpurea'' subsp. ...

'', however, has short, squat, bulbous pitchers close to the ground, and ''

Sarracenia psittacina ''Sarracenia psittacina'', also known as the parrot pitcherplant, is a carnivorous plant in the genus '' Sarracenia''. Like all the ''Sarracenia'', it is native to North America, in the Southeastern United States. ''Sarracenia psittacina'' emp ...

'' has pitchers that grow horizontally. The purple pitcher plant (''Sarracenia purpurea'') is the official flower of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

. File:H folliculata 2.jpg, ''

'' File:Darlingtonia californica ne1.JPG, ''

Darlingtonia californica ''Darlingtonia californica'' —also called the California pitcher plant, the Oregon pitcher plant, cobra lily or cobra plant—is a species of carnivorous plant in the new world pitcher plant family, Sarraceniaceae. It is the sole species wit ...

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

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

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

Collembola Springtails (class Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects. Although the three lineages are sometimes grouped together in a class called Entognatha because they have internal m ...

) trapped by ''Sarracenia purpurea''. File:Sarracenia. Idia.jpg, Moth, '' Idia lubricalis'' 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 A plastid is a membrane-bound organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of plants, algae, and some other eukaryotic organisms. Plastids are considered to be intracellular endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. Examples of plastids include chloroplasts ...

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 ...

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

References

* * {{Authority control Ericales families