Mt. Cuba Center, Hockessin, Delaware is the legacy of the Lammot du Pont Copelands

 

 

Pitcher plants (Sarracenia)  grow along one edge of the largest pond at Mt. Cuba Center. 

They habitually live in bogs and trap and digest insects in their leaves.

 

 

 

Purple pitcher plant growing with carex (a form of sedge)

 

 

 black turtles come out to sun on warm days opposite the Sarracenia

 

 

Green pitcher plants (Sarracenia oreophylla) in flower. 

 

Mt. Cuba guidance is that this pitcher plant is rare and is among the first to flower in Spring.  

 

 

 

 

Explanation from Wikipedia of the flower of the Sarracenia

 

…Five sepals superintended by three bracts, numerous anthers and an umbrella-like five-pointed (chamber-forming) style  over which five long petals dangle. 

 

The whole flower is held upside down so that the umbrella-like style catches the pollen dropped by anthers. 

 

Bees force themselves into the chamber where there is nectar and much pollen.

 

Upon exiting the chamber, the bees force their way under one of the flapping petals.  This keeps them away from the stigmas, located at the tips of the style, avoiding a self-pollination.

 

 

 

sectional view of a Sarracenia flower from Wikipedia

 

 

 

flower of a green pitcher plant