SARRACENIACEAE

PITCHER-PLANT FAMILY

William J. Stone

Perennial, generally from slender rhizome or short caudex, carnivorous; roots poorly developed
Leaves: basal rosette, spreading to erect, modified into tubular "pitcher" sometimes containing digestive fluids
Inflorescence: flower generally 1, on long peduncle
Flower bisexual, radial, nodding; sepals generally 5, overlapping, generally clawed; petals 5 or 0; stamens many; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers generally 5, sometimes incomplete above, placentas axile (or parietal above), style 1, entire to 4–6 lobed or umbrella-like, stigma terminal or under tips of style lobes
Fruit: capsule, loculicidal; valves generally 5
Seeds many, club-like, often winged
Genera in family: 3 genera, 15 species: CA, OR, e North America, n South America, especially bogs, streamsides.

DARLINGTONIA

CALIFORNIA PITCHER PLANT, COBRA LILY

Species in genus: 1 sp
Etymology: (William Darlington, Philadelphia botanist, 1782–1863)

Native

D. californica Torr.

Leaf generally 1–6 dm, tubular, greenish yellow, with stiff, reflexed hairs inside, enlarged upward into a translucent-dotted hood with 2 yellow- to purple-green appendages at front border; leaf opening downward-facing, under hood
Inflorescence < 1 m; bracts obvious, yellow
Flower: sepals 4–6 cm, oblong to oblanceolate, yellow-green, veins purple; petals 2–4 cm, narrowly ovate, dark purple, heavily veined; stamens 12–15 in 1 whorl; ovary tip truncate or concave, style 2–3 mm, deeply 5-lobed, stigmas 5
Fruit 2.5–4.5 cm, ovoid
Seed ± 2 mm, papillate, light reddish brown
Chromosomes: 2n=30
Ecology: UNCOMMON. Seeps, boggy places with running water, generally on serpentine
Elevation: 60–2200 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, High Cascade Range?, n High Sierra Nevada (c Plumas, Sierra, Nevada cos.)
Distribution outside California: w Oregon
Lvs produce no digestive enzymes; breakdown of insects is bacterial
Horticultural information: WET, bog and pure water, DRN: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 17 &SHD: 6, 7, 14, 15, 16; DFCLT.