Sarracenia alata

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Pale pitcher plant
Sarracenia alata flowers
Sarracenia alata flowers
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ericales
Family: Sarraceniaceae
Genus: Sarracenia
Species: S. alata
Binomial name
Sarracenia alata
Alph.Wood
Sarracenia alata range
Sarracenia alata range

Sarracenia alata, also known as the Pale pitcher plant or Pale trumpet, is a carnivorous plant in the genus Sarracenia. Like all the Sarracenia, it is native to the New World and grows in permanently wet and open wetlands typically classified as longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) savannas. The Pale pitcher plant's habitat is split into two geographically separate areas: an eastern range from eastern Louisiana across southern Mississippi and into western Alabama and a western range from eastern Texas into western Louisiana. In Mississippi, stands of Sarracenia alata rival in size those of any other Sarracenia species.

Among members of Sarracenia the floral coloring of Sarracenia alata is remarkably varied. Flowers may be cream to white, greenish, yellow or reddish. As the floral color variations exist within populations hundreds of miles from any other Sarracenia species, these variations cannot be attributed to hybridization.

Other than the range of floral colors, Sarracenia alata differs little from Sarracenia rubra. The veining of Sarracenia rubra pitchers tends to be more reticulated whereas that of Sarracenia alata often exhibits more of a pinstripe pattern and grows taller pitchers.

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