Sarracenia purpurea

Sarracenia purpurea

The purple pitcher plant, northern pitcher plant or turtle socks (Sarracenia purpurea L., 1753), is a carnivorous plant belonging to the Sarraceniaceae family.

Systematics –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota Domain,
Kingdom Plantae,
Magnoliophyta Division,
Magnoliopsida class,
Nepenthales Order,
Sarraceniaceae family,
Genus Sarracenia,
S. purpurea species.
The terms are synonymous:
– Sarazina grandiflora Raf., 1840;
– Sarracenia aurea Sartwell;
– Sarracenia aurea Sartwell ex Macfad .;
– Sarracenia grandiflora Raf .;
– Sarracenia purpurea f. engraved J.Rousseau & Rouleau;
– Sarracenia purpurea f. klawei B.Boivin;
– Sarracenia purpurea f. plena Erskine;
– Sarracenia purpurea f. purpurea L .;
– Sarracenia purpurea var. gibbosa (Raf.) Wherry;
– Sarracenia purpurea var. typica Macfarl .;
– Sarracenia terraenovae (LaPylaie) C.R.Bell.
Within this species, the following subspecies and varieties are recognized:
– Sarracenia purpurea subsp. gibbosa (Raf.) Wherry;
– Sarracenia purpurea subsp. purpurea L .;
– Sarracenia purpurea var. burkii D.E Schnell;
– Sarracenia purpurea var. montana D.E.Schnell & Determann.

Etymology –
The term Sarracenia of the genus was dedicated by Linnaeus to Michel Sarrazin (Sarracenius, 1659-1734), a French naturalist and physician sent in 1685 to French Canada as a military surgeon, wrote a Natural History of Canada and sent plant samples to France, in especially in Tournefort.
The specific purple epithet comes from the Greek πορφύρεος porphýreos, purple-red in color.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Sarracenia purpurea is a plant native to North America and its range extends north to the area of ​​the Great Lakes and southeastern Canada.
Its range includes the east coast, the Great Lakes region, all of Canada (except Nunavut and Yukon), the state of Washington and Alaska. This makes it the most common and widely distributed carnivorous plant, as well as the only member of the genus that inhabits cold temperate climates.
Outside its territory of origin, sarracenia has been introduced in some European countries, where it has naturalized. These include Switzerland, where there is a population in the Jura Alpine massif known for over a century, in Ireland, Great Britain and Germany.
This plant is found in the habitats of the native carnivorous species Darlingtonia californica, in the Klamath Mountains and in the northern Sierra Nevada. In Great Britain and Ireland, purple pitcher plants have invaded heather-rich bogs; in Great Britain and Ireland and with the mild climate they can grow in large numbers at the expense of the local flora. Peat bogs are also threatened as sphagnum mosses do not grow close to the carnivorous plant.
This plant, however, is endangered or vulnerable over much of the southern part of its range.

Description –
Sarracenia purpurea is a plant with leaves modified into ascidia similar to long skins with the apical part transformed into a cap. It is a carnivorous plant whose trap is made up of 10-30 cm tall ascidia, arranged in a rosette, green in color with reddish streaks that tend to form a bright red-purple color.
To attract prey, the plant uses the sweetish nectar that is produced above all in the cap of the ascidian and in the mouth. The hood is small and does not cover the mouth of the ascidian which is filled with rainwater. The preys first fall into the ascidian, then drown and finally, decomposing in the water, are digested by the plant. Unlike other species of Sarracenia, S. purpurea does not release enzymes to complete the digestion of the catch.
The stem that carries the flower (scape) reaches 60 cm in height.
The flowers are globular and dark red in color.
In the detail of the digestion system this is assisted by a community of invertebrates, mainly composed of the Wyeomyia smithii mosquito and the Metriocnemus knabi midge that help digest prey, such as flies, ants, spiders and even moths or hornets.
The relationship between W. smithii and S. purpurea is an example of commensalism.
S. purpurea also traps juvenile spotted salamanders with sufficient regularity that in a 2019 study it was found that nearly 20% of the plants surveyed contained one or more salamanders. Salamanders have been observed to die within three to nineteen days and can be killed as the small pools of water in the plant are heated by the sun. A single salamander could provide hundreds to thousands of times the nutrients of invertebrate prey, but it is not known how efficiently S. purpurea is able to digest them.
Protists, rotifers (including pink Habrotrocha) and bacteria form the basis of the tenant food web that mines and mineralizes available prey, making nutrients available to the plant. The new leaves of this plant produce digestive enzymes such as hydrolases and proteases, but as the individual leaves age in their second year, the digestion of the prey material is aided by the community of bacteria that live within the plants.

Cultivation –
Sarracenia purpurea is a simple plant to grow, requiring no terrarium or greenhouse. Like all carnivorous plants, it should be watered only with distilled or rain water or purified with reverse osmosis, pouring water into the saucer and not from above. During the winter rest period, the saucer is eliminated and the substrate must be slightly damp. If exposed to full sun for many hours it takes on a reddish color due to the development of anthocyanins, otherwise it remains green with some red veins.
Propagation occurs by seed which should be sown in a shaded area as soon as it is ripe, if possible, otherwise in early spring.
When the plants reach the size to be handled they should be placed in single pots and grown in a protected area or greenhouse for their first winter.
The transplant must then be carried out in spring or early summer, after the last frosts foreseen.
Propagation by division may also be possible.

Customs and Traditions –
Sarracenia purpurea is a plant that is grown as an ornamental plant and some subspecies are particularly sought after.
This plant was once used as a medicine by Native American tribes in the northeastern and Great Lakes territories, including the Algonquin, Cree, Iroquois, Mi’kmaq (Micmac) peoples; the main use was that of treating smallpox by means of a root infusion. A 2012 study suggests that Sarracenia purpurea is effective as a treatment for viruses of the Orthopoxvirus family, including the smallpox virus, by inhibiting early transcription of the virus.
Sarracenia purpurea has been studied as a biocontrol for the Asian wasp (Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836) which arrived in Europe, since it acts as a natural trap and in which trapped hornets have been observed. The hybrids used in the study, S. juthatipsoper and S. evendine, were considered too non-selective, but the researchers proposed trying other carnivorous plant species that might be more effective.
This plant is the floral emblem of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Most of the species along the Gulf Coast of the United States that were once identified as Sarracenia purpurea have since been reclassified as Sarracenia rosea.

Preparation Method –
Sarracenia purpurea is a plant that, especially in the past, was used for medicinal purposes.
The root and leaves are diuretic, hepatic, laxative, stomachic and tonic.
They are used in the treatment of dyspepsia, constipation, liver and kidney disorders.
A cold decoction of the whole plant was used in the treatment of whooping cough.
An infusion of the dried leaves has been used in the treatment of fevers and tremors.
The infusion of the leaves has been used to facilitate childbirth and also for diseases associated with the absence of the menstrual cycle.
An infusion of the leaves was once considered a cure for smallpox.
Root infusion has also been used in the treatment of smallpox although there are conflicting reports as to its effectiveness.
A decoction of the root was given to women to help expel the placenta and to prevent disease after giving birth.
A concentrated decoction of the root has been used in the treatment of blood in cough and lung ailments.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora of Italy, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.

Warning: Pharmaceutical applications and alimurgical uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not represent in any way a medical prescription; therefore no responsibility is taken for their use for curative, aesthetic or food purposes.