Green Pitcher Plant

The green pitcher plant (Sarracenia oreophila) is a carnivorous herb that occurs in northeast Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. It lives on insects that are attracted to the plant’s tubular or pitcher-like leaves, which f ill with water. The inside of the tubular leaf is covered by tiny, downward facing hairs that let insects in, but not out. The prey is eventually digested.

The green pitcher plant is endangered due to habitat loss, encroachment by competing plants, and over-collecting of live plants.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is working with private landowners, the National Park Service, DeSoto State Park in Alabama, The Nature Conservancy, and state heritage programs to recover this species.