Sarracenia rubra


Sarracenia rubra

Classification

The taxonomy of Sarracenia rubra is difficult to understand. There are multiple formats that have been used by taxonomists to classify the pitcher plant. As a result, it is difficult to recognize how the species is categorized. Therefore, to obtain a general idea of the taxonomy, the format that is commonly recognized for Sarracenia rubra is that the plant is classified as one species with five subspecies.

 

www.sarracenia.com 

Permission: "Some of the images on this page are used by permission of sarracenia.com"

 

Eukarya: Sarracenia rubra is in the domain Eukarya because it has cells with membrane enclosed organelles and a nucleus.

Kingdom: Sarracenia rubra is in the kingdom Plantae because it is a eukaryotic organism that has cells with cell walls and are capable of conducting photosynthesis.

Phylum: Sarracenia rubra is in the phylum Anthophyta because it is a plant that flowers and produces seeds that are contained in an ovary.

Class: Sarracenia rubra is in the class dicotyledons because it has two cotyledons, which are the initial leaves formed in the plant. Furthermore, the plant’s vascular tissue is in a circular formation in the stem. The flowers have petals in groups of four or five.

Order: Sarracenia rubra is in the order Nepenthales because it is a flowering plant that has leaves that are specialized for seizing prey. The order is made up of three families, the Droseraceae, the Nepenthaceae, and the Sarraceniaceae. 

Family: Sarracenia rubra is in the family Sarraceniaceae because the leaves of the plant have shaped into a pitcher and are specialized at catching prey. The pitcher is long and cylindrical with an opening at the top.

Genus: Sarracenia rubra is in the genus Sarracenia because the plants grow in groups or clusters, which generate tubular pitcher leaves. The pitcher leaves are specialized for catching and digesting insects. The plants grow from an underground rhizome and have individual flowers. The single flowers have a distinctive structure, which includes five petals (dicot) that surround a uniquely shaped style. The plants flower from April to May and develop new pitchers. All of the plants have lids to prevent the pitcher from destruction from rain. The common victims of the genus are wasps, bees, ants, and flies. The plants are commonly found in wet and damp environments.

Species: Sarracenia rubra has red and maroon colored flowers. The species of pitcher plant is found in the southeastern United States and is made up of five subspecies.          

Gerald Malloy

 

The phylogenetic tree divides the order Nepenthales into the families, and then genus that relate to Sarracenia rubra. 

Sarracenia alata

Click the link to learn about one of Sarracenia rubra's relatives!

Sarracenia rubra, originates from the Latin word for red, as a result of the plant’s flowers and leaves. The common names for this species of pitcher plant is the sweet pitcher plant and red pitcher plant.



Nutrition
Click the link to see what Sarracenia rubra eats for dinner!

© All Rights Reserved
Designed by Rambling Soul | XHTML | CSS