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Description:
Red pitcherplant is a carnivorous, perennial herb growing to a height of up to 75 cm. The hollow, erect, leaves (pitchers) are green with some amount of red or purplish veination above and are approximately 8 to 68 cm in height. The hoods which cover the orifice (pitcher opening) have a network of reddish veins and are sharply pointed at the tips. From April to May, nodding, solitary, fragrant, flowers develop on long leafless stalks which usually exceed the height of the pitchers. The ovate-triangular sepals are purplish above and greenish beneath and 1.8 to 2.7 cm in length, persisting at the base of the fruit. The apically obovate petals are maroon to red on the inner side and grayish to dull purple or red on the outer side and 2.5 to 4.0 cm in length. The umbrella-shaped style (style-disk), a distinctive feature of pitcher plant flowers, is approximately 2.8 to 4.0 cm in diameter. From June to July, a globose fruit (capsule) approximately 0.6 to 1.2 cm in diameter develops (Patrick et. al., 1995).
Habitat:
Red pitcherplant inhabits acidic soils of wet pine savannahs, pineland seepage slopes, open bogs, Atlantic white-cedar swamps, and boggy margins of streams, sloughs, and ditches.
Range:
Red pitcherplant is found from the mountains of southwestern North Carolina and northwestern South Carolina and in the coastal plain from southeastern North Carolina to Georgia and southeastern Mississippi through southern Alabama to the western portion of the Florida Panhandle. The species is also present in north central Alabama. A variety of subspecies exist, some of which are Federally protected.
References
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