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Key to families | Table of families and genera




Barry A. Rice

Perennial herb, generally from slender rhizome, short caudex, or stolon; carnivorous; roots poorly developed. Leaf: in basal rosette, prostrate to erect, each forming a tubular pitcher with fluid that digests captured prey by enzymes, bacteria, or other organisms, with stiff, reflexed hairs within. Inflorescence: scapose, flower generally 1. Flower: bisexual, radial, nodding; sepals 5 [4–6], generally free; petals 5 [0]; stamens many; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers generally 5, incomplete above or not, placentas generally axile, style 1, 5-lobed, umbrella-like or not, stigma terminal or under tips of style lobes. Fruit: capsule, loculicidal; valves generally 5. Seed: many, flattened-ovoid, smooth, or club-like, papillate [winged].
3 genera, 24 species: northern California, Oregon, British Columbia, eastern North America, northern South America, especially acidic bogs, streamsides, moist areas; often planted outside native ranges by horticulturists but generally not invasive. [Schnell 2002 Carnivorous Plants of US and Can. Timber Press] —Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.

Key to Sarraceniaceae

1. Pitcher with 2 ± pendent, diverging, fang-like appendages, each 5+ cm (often damaged or imperfect); pitcher top dome-like, with many glassy-transparent windows; scape bracts few to several, scattered ..... DARLINGTONIA

1' Pitcher without pendent, diverging, fang-like appendages; pitcher top not dome-like, generally with vertical or overhanging lid; scape bracts 3, whorled, subtending flower ..... SARRACENIA

