Pitcher Plant

The Pitcher Plant is a carnivorous plant! How exciting it was as a child in school to hear of such an un- imaginable thing; an insect eating plant! The explanation today is much less dramatic and understandable for the pitcher shaped leaves of this plant contain a digestive fluid in its bottom and when insects are lured and then trapped into this pitfall trap of digestive juices, the insect is gradually absorbed within the plant's system. The downward pointing hairs on the inside of the Pitcher Plant's leaves do not allow insects to escape by crawling back out.
These Pitcher Plants were found in a sphagnum bog alongside a boardwalk at the Mud Lake Nature Trail in Quispamsis.