Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
44 ratings

Sunday - October 16, 2005

From: Birmingham, AL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Herbs/Forbs
Title: Habitats of pitcher plants
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Where do pitcher plants live?

ANSWER:

The pitcher plants that are native to North America are in the Family Sarraceniaceae (Pitcherplant Family). The habitat for all of these are wet, boggy land, usually with full sun.

The following are ones native to North America:
1. Cobra plant (Dalingtonia californica) which grow in California, Oregon, and Washington.
2. Yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia alata) occurs in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
3. Trumpets (S. flava) grow in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Virginia.
4. Crimson pitcher-plant (S. leucophylla) occurs in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina.
5. Hooded pitcher-plant (S. minor) can be found in Florida, George and North and South Carolina.
6. Parrot pitcher-plant (S. psittacina) grows in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippie.
7. Northern pitcher-plant (S. purpurea) has the greatest range from Saskatchewan to Labrador, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; south through New England to Florida; west to Texas; north to Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota.

Pitcher plants from Asia, Madagascar, the Pacific region, and Australia are in a different family, Family Nepenthaceae.

 

More Herbs/Forbs Questions

Black-eyed Susans in potting soil on ground
November 12, 2010 - I would like to know if black eyed susans can be planted in just potting soil instead of mixing it in with dirt from the ground? I don't want to leave it in the pots. I want to plant it, but the grou...
view the full question and answer

Managing non-native invasive creeping yellow cress in Rio Medina TX
January 10, 2012 - Due to my lawn mower dying and waiting for the shop to fix it my yard got a bit overgrown. I was walking around the yard looking at the blooming wildflowers and have discovered that one of them is Ror...
view the full question and answer

Native plants of Taos and Los Alamos NM from Houston
April 07, 2012 - Hi, Mr. Smarty Plants, can you recommend a guidebook for the native plants of the Taos/Los Alamos region? (I'm most interested in forbs.) I'll be headed there in May--is there anything I should es...
view the full question and answer

Will Canada geese eat Asclepias tuberosa from Cape May Court, NJ
May 20, 2014 - Will Canada geese eat my butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)? I know this plant is deer resistant. I really want to plant some on sandy bank near pond in my back yard, but I fear the geese will ...
view the full question and answer

Will the
May 27, 2015 - I'm becoming interested in rain gardens, and although Silphium perfoliatum does not appear to be a host for butterfly caterpillars and like most of the "giant tall grass prairie daisies" may be a b...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.