Lil_Flytrap_Kid's Website

This plant lives in America. It's latin name is Sarracenia. It has tall hollow leaves with nectar at the top. The very top part of the leaf acts like a landing pad for flying insects like wasps. The rim of the pitcher has lots of nectar that attracts the insect to the hole. The bug doesn't know how much danger it's in until it slips. Inside the leaf the walls are waxy and smooth so the insect can't get a grip. There are also downward pointing hairs so the insect can't crawl back up. so the only choice for it is to move further down the tunnel. At the bottom of the tunnel there is a pool. But not the sort of pool you'd want to dive into - This is a pool of digestive acids and enzymes- The same kind of acids in your stomache that help digest your food. So the insect is dissolved and digested into a nutritious soup which the plant soaks up and turns into energy. This helps the plant grow.

A very attractive plant that has many different species. Once the plant is mature (This takes about 7 years from seed) it flowers. The flowers are quite big and face downwards, nodding in the wind.




From Squat pitchers that sit on the floor like the  S. purpurea [Top] that catch woodlice etc to tall upright pitchers like the S x readii [bottom] that catch mostly flying insects like wasps!

Here are a list of basic hybrid names:

S. x ahlesii ~ S. alata x rubra
S. x areolata ~ S. leucophylla x alata
S. x catesbaei ~ S. purpurea x flava
S. x chelsonii ~ S. purpurea x rubra
S. x courtii ~ S. purpurea x psittacina
S. x excellens ~ S. leucophylla x minor
S. x exornata ~ S. purpurea x alata
S. x formosa ~ S. minor x psittacina
S. x gilpini ~ S. rubra x psittacina
S. x harperi ~ S. flava x minor
S. x mitchelliana ~ S. purpurea x leucophylla
S. x moorei ~ S. flava x leucophylla
S. x popei ~ S. flava x rubra
S. x readii ~ S. leucophylla x rubra
S. x rehderi ~ S. rubra x minor
S. x swaniana ~ S. purpurea x minor
S. x wrigleyana ~ S. leucophylla x psittiacina

This took a while to write out.. hope you appreciate it