Species › Plants › Green Pitcher Plant

Green Pitcher Plant

Sarracenia oreophila

Very rarePlant
Illustration of Green Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia oreophila)

The Green Pitcher Plant is one of the rarest plants in North America, listed as Endangered under the US Endangered Species Act with fewer than 35 populations remaining, all in northeastern Alabama and adjacent Georgia and North Carolina. Unlike most pitcher plants, it grows in mountain seepage bogs and stream banks at moderate elevations rather than coastal plain bogs. The pitchers are green and functional only in spring, becoming photosynthetic flat leaves in summer. Illegal collecting has devastated many populations.

Habitat
Mountain seepage bogs, stream banks, and moist sandstone outcrops in northeastern Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina.
Diet
Carnivorous — captures insects in pitchers; one of North America's rarest and most endangered carnivorous plants.
How common
Very rare

Best time to see a Green Pitcher Plant

The best time to see a Green Pitcher Plant is May–July, when about 63% of U.S. sightings happen, based on 230 research-grade iNaturalist observations.

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