Sarracenia alata

(Alph. Wood) Alph. Wood

Leaves Flowers, 159. 1863 ,.

Common names: Pale or winged pitcher plant
Endemic
Basionym: Sarracenia gronovii var. alata Alph. Wood Class-book Bot. ed. s.n.(b), 222. 1861
Synonyms: Sarracenia sledgei Macfarlane
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 8. Treatment on page 355. Mentioned on page 352, 356, 362, 363.

Plants forming dense clumps; rhizomes 0.8–1.5 cm diam. Pitchers marcescent, appearing shortly after first flowers, spring flush of pitchers followed by delayed flush of similarly shaped, more robust pitchers in late summer, erect; distal portion of tube typically yellow-green, sometimes purple-lined, purple reticulate-veined, or strongly purple, without white areolae, 15–75 cm, firm, surfaces glabrous or finely pubescent, wings 1–2 cm wide; orifice oval, 2–5 cm diam., rim green, tightly revolute, not or scarcely indented distal to wing; hood recurved adaxially, held well beyond and covering orifice, proximal margins not reflexed, usually yellow-green, sometimes purple-lined, purple reticulate-veined, or strongly purple, without white areolae, ovate, not undulate, 3.5–6 × 4–6 cm, usually wider than long, base cordate, necks not constricted, 0.5–1 cm, apiculum 1–3 mm, adaxial surface glabrate or with hairs to 0.5 mm. Phyllodia usually absent, rarely 1–2, erect, oblanciform, to 40 × 1–2 cm. Scapes 15–60 cm, shorter than pitchers; bracts 1–1.5 cm. Flowers moderately ill-scented; sepals yellowish green, rarely suffused with purple, 3–6 × 2.5–4 cm; petals pale to deep yellow, distal portion ovate-orbiculate, 5–7 × 2.2–4 cm, margins entire; style disc green, 5–8 cm diam. Capsules 1.2–1.8 cm diam. Seeds 1.9–2.3 mm. 2n = 26.


Phenology: Flowering Mar–Apr.
Habitat: Wet pine savannas and flatwoods, bogs, pineland seepage slopes, sometimes in mineral soils low in organic matter
Elevation: 0-50 m

Discussion

Sarracenia alata occurs from Baldwin, Mobile, and Washington counties, Alabama, across southern Mississippi and Louisiana, to Robertson County, Texas. Its pitchers are consistent in shape but extremely variable in color. The late summer pitchers are the largest of the year. It produces flowers similar in shape to, but larger than, those of members of the S. rubra complex. In Texas, it grows in wetlands that do not have longleaf pine, in regions dominated by xeric species of oak. There, it grows in bogs, seeps, and meadows, where ground-water seepage, not rainfall, keeps the plants wet.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"winged" is not a number."variable" is not a number.No values specified.

... more about "Sarracenia alata"
with hairs +  and glabrate +
not versatile +  and dorsifixed +
rounded;rounded;rounded;obtuse;obtuse;rounded +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
T. Lawrence Mellichamp +  and Frederick W. Case +
(Alph. Wood) Alph. Wood +
cordate +
Sarracenia gronovii var. alata +
costate +  and purple-veined +
blotched +, green +, pink +, red +, purplish +, reddish +  and yellow-green +
ovate-oblong +, ovate-triangular +  and arched +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br /> (1.8 cm18 mm <br />0.018 m <br />) +
tuberculate +
globose +  and ovoid +
not stoloniferous +
mat-forming +
Pale or winged pitcher plant +
umbrellalike +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br />) +
ovate-orbiculate +
2.2 cm22 mm <br />0.022 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
Ala. +, La. +, Miss. +  and Tex. +
0-50 m +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
ill-scented +
loculicidal +
tuberculate +
globose;ovoid or obconic shallowly 5-lobed or 10-lobed +
Wet pine savannas and flatwoods, bogs, pineland seepage slopes, sometimes in mineral soils low in organic matter +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br />) +
not lobed +, ovate +  and orbiculate or reniform flattened or dome-shaped +
elliptic +, ovate +, orbiculate +  and obovate +
rosette-forming +
reflexed +  and pendulous +
notched +
erose +  and entire +
distinct +
not constricted +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (?) +  and 1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (?) +
partly to completely covered by hood +  and gaping +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
axile +  and parietal +
5-lobed +, globose +  and conic +
tenuinucellate +  and bitegmic +
pale +  and deep yellow +
distinct +
Flowering Mar–Apr. +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br />) +
oblanciform +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
not twisted +  and monomorphic +
purplish +, reddish +, yellow-green +  and green +
similarly--shaped +
purple reticulate-veined +, purple-lined +  and yellow-green +
3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
not undulate;ovate +
Leaves Flowers, +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
vertical +  and horizontal +
indented +
deltate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (60 cm600 mm <br />0.6 m <br />) +
tuberculate +  and reticulate-tuberculate +
keeled;irregularly clavate;reniform-obovate +
0.19 cm1.9 mm <br />0.0019 m <br /> (0.23 cm2.3 mm <br />0.0023 m <br />) +
suffused with purple +  and yellowish green +
persistent +
ovate;ovate-triangular +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
50 +  and 100 +
filiform +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
expanded +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
Sarracenia sledgei +
Sarracenia alata +
Sarracenia +
species +
purple reticulate-veined +, purple-lined +  and yellow-green +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (75 cm750 mm <br />0.75 m <br />) +
scapose +, stoloniferous +  and rhizomatous +
1cm;2cm +