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Carnivorous Plants/Nepenthes vs sarracenia

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Expert: - 10/4/2010


Question
Can you tell me the difference between these two carnivorous plants, please?


Answer
Hello Honey Barnekoff,

Actually, there are five different genera of what are known as Pitcher Plants.

Nepenthes are tropical plants that come from Asian regions, typically mountainous, and grow as vines with modified leaf tips that form tendrils and pitchers to trap and digest insects, small animals, and/or leaf litter and bird droppings to obtain nitrogen.

Sarracenias are temperate plants from North America that grow as low lying herbs with rhizomes from which leaves grow in a circular pattern directly from the root system. They typically form horn shaped or trumpet shaped leaves that can trap and digest insects.

Both plants use the same method to trap prey, however, both developed this method in different ways and the two genera are not related taxonomically or genetically.

The other three genera of Pitcher Plants are the Darlingtonia, seemingly an offshoot of the Sarracenias that grows in Oregon, the Cephalotus, an Australian plant, and Heliamphora, a South American group of plants that grow similarly to some of the North American Sarracenias.

Christopher

Carnivorous Plants

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Christopher Littrell

Expertise

I am capable of answering questions about the most common carnivorous plants found in cultivation. I have no personal experience with Byblis, Drosophyllum, Aldrovanda, and Heliamphora. I have not cultivated gemmae forming pygmy sundews nor tuberous sundews. For information regarding those aforementioned species, I would suggest contacting other experts. I can answer questions regarding most species of Nepenthes, tropical and temperate Drosera, Mexican Pinguicula, Sarracenias, and Dionaea. I have some limited experience with growing Utricularia, Cephalotus, and Darlingtonia.

Experience

I have grown carnivorous plants off and on for about 27 years. I have made the same mistakes and suffered the same mishaps that many growers make as they attempt to separate the myths from the realities of growing these plants. Currently, I am successfully growing a variety of tropical sundews, a Nepenthes, several Venus Flytraps of varying ages, and Sarracenias. I have been successful in stratifying Sarracenia seeds and providing artificial dormancy requirements for my temperate plants when needed.

Education/Credentials
I hold a Master's degree in Educational Psychology. Over my lifetime, I have constantly read books involving the growing conditions of carnivorous plants. I hope to incorporate the educational aspects involved in psychology with teaching other people how to cultivate carnivorous plants.

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