Specimen of the Month: "Spooky" Carnivores

By guest contributor and Summer Naturalist Intern, Cade Campbell.

Flowering purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea). Photo by Cade Campbell

Pitcher plants are the tallest native carnivorous plants in Wisconsin. They grow in nutrient-poor soil of bogs and fens, so they must “eat” insects to survive. Full of watery, sweet nectar, pitcher plants lure greedy insects to their death inside of funnel-like leaves, where strong digestive acids turn them into fuel for the nutrient-deprived plants.

As the weather gets colder, pitcher plants develop specialized red pigments, called anthocyanins, to resist freezing temperatures. Some of the leaves even survive under snow through the winter, and are replaced by new growth in the spring.

The funnel-like leaves where many insects meet their death.
Photo by Cade Campbell.