Hooded pitcher plant is found in the coastal regions of northern Florida and in Georgia up to the southern part of North Carolina. It grows in wet savannas and pine flatwoods, seepage slopes, sphagnum seeps in swamps, bogs, and wet ditches.
Hooded pitcher plant also called as Sarracenia minor, is a carnivorous plant of the genus Sarracenia. This species was described by Thomas Walter in 1788.
IDENTIFY HOODED PITCHER PLANT - SARRACENIA MINOR
Hooded pitcher plant is found in the coastal regions of northern Florida and in Georgia up to the southern part of North Carolina. It grows in wet savannas and pine flatwoods, seepage slopes, sphagnum seeps in swamps, bogs, and wet ditches.
Sarracenia minor is a perennial, terrestrial, rhizomatous, herbaceous, carnivorous plant with leaves modified into erect, tubular pitchers. The pitchers are 12 - 35 cm tall, with a wing running the length of the pitcher and a strongly curved hood covering the opening; lower pitcher green; hood and upper pitcher reddish with white, translucent patches; pitchers persist through the winter.
The prey capture system of this plant is quite unique. When the insects are guided to the lip of the mouth by the traces of nectar, they are in a rather dark location because of the hood that overhangs them. Creeping prey are encouraged to enter the brightest parts of the trap, where the sun shines through the windows. Flying insects are deceived and believe that windows are issues. Creeping prey can not find a hold on the waxy inside of the hood, while flying prey is rushing through the windows to get a staggering surprise. All fall desperately into the narrowing tube and into the digestive juices below.
Sarracenia minor blooms in late March to mid-May. The flower are solitary with 5 drooping, pale yellow petals, 3 - 4 cm)long; 5 yellow-green sepals; and a pale yellow, umbrella shaped style disk in the center of the flower. Sepals and style disk persist long after the petals fall, and the fruit – a round, warty capsule about 0.8 - 1.8 cm wide.
Some clones and varieties: Sarracenia minor var. minor (only about 30 cm tall); Sarracenia minor var. okefenokeensis (about 70-80 cm tall).
HOODED PITCHER PLANT - SARRACENIA MINOR CARE AND CULTURE
Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.
Light and temperature:
The full sun suits Hooded pitcher plant perfectly. Keep the plant at the temperature of between 5 - 15 ° C in winter and 20 - 40 ° C in summer.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Sarracenia minor can be installed in outdoor peat bogs because it can withstand temperatures of -12 ° C. It can also be grown in pot with 70% blonde peat + 10% sand + 10% vermiculite + 10% perlite as substrate.
Watering:
Hooded pitcher plant likes to have much more water than most other Sarracenias. Keep the soil moist all year long by having a saucer under the pot, reduce and remove it in winter.
Feeding:
Do not fertilize the plants. Kept outside, the plant will catch more than enough food for themselves. If you keep your plants indoors, you can feed them with dried insects every few weeks.
Propagation:
The rhizome seems to enjoy being buried unlike other Sarracenias. This feature also makes it easy to multiply by making small cuts on the rhizome. The plant can also multiple by seeding: Seeds have taken almost a year to germinate. Freshly harvested seeds and sown immediately in the mini-greenhouse germinate in the spring. A sowing on wet cotton and kept warm requires about a month. Transplanting from cotton crops requires some precautions to avoid breaking the rootlets.
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