Species · genus Sarracenia · Sarraceniaceae

Huntsman's Cup

Sarracenia purpurea L.

Also known as: Pitcherplant · Pitcher Plant · Common Pitcherplant · Huntsman's Horn · Northern Pitcher Plant

Growth habit

perennial

Native range

Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Reference · S. purpurea

Cultivars of S. purpurea

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under S. purpurea yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Sarracenia purpurea is a carnivorous bog perennial native to nutrient-poor wetlands across northern North America, and it lives with its roots constantly wet and its crown in full sun. Keep it standing in a tray of mineral-free water (rain or distilled only — tap minerals will kill it), and grow it in a lean peat-and-sand mix that never dries; top up the tray when it runs low, roughly every 1 to 3 days. It needs a cold winter dormancy and never feed it fertilizer — it catches its own insects.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 1-3d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 3 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

0–30 °C

Soil mix

Poor, acidic peat and sand mix

Propagation

Division of established clumps or seed

Fertilizing

None; relies on trapped insects for nutrients

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Deep red spring flowers on a single tall stalk

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 1-3d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Huntsman's Cup yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.