Almost There Buddy – feat. Sarracenia Purpurae

This is Ray. Ray is a Sarracenia Purpurae, or the purple pitcher plant, which is odd, as he is anything but purple. Sometimes yellow, at times, green tinge, and mainly deep crimson. Ray is a North American pitcher plant, and unlike the usual pitcher we see in nepenthes, this one is more tubular and trumpet like

As you can see, it is actually a leaf folded on its own, to form this long tube like structure, that is open on the end. Filled with water from rain. And how does it feed? Well, see the little downward facing hairs? Insects are attracted to its bright colour and will so often try to get a closer look, with those hairs, often enough, these tiny insects lose hold of their footing, and falls into the deadly traps.

Slippery, narrow and deep, these insects then drown, and decompose and becomes a tasty soupy treat for the plant.

There are many Sarracenia species, but the purpurae have always been my favourite, as it always form a neat circle like a blooming flower with its beautiful and deep coloured pitchers.

It is no surprise I felt like a proud plant-dad, when I saw a non-leaf being pushed out of the center of the plant.

And slowly but surely, it continued growing. It’s a flower! Ray’s first!

Usually, Sarracenia gets good height with their flowers. And they usually show quite a display. But I don’t know, maybe it’s Ray’s first time, and he’s a little nervous, so the flower fell short (pun intended).