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Sarracenia minor var. minor
Hooded Pitcherplant
Federal Protection: No US federal protection
State Protection: Unusal
Global Rank: G4T4
State Rank: S4
Element Locations Tracked in Biotics: Yes
SWAP 2015 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): No
SWAP 2025 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): No
2025 SGCN Priority Tier: None
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 222
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Wet savannas, pitcherplant bogs
Perennial herb with leaves modified into erect, tubular pitchers. Pitchers are 5 - 14 inches (12 - 35 cm) tall, with a wing running the length of the pitcher and a strongly curved hood covering the opening; the lower pitcher is green, the hood and upper pitcher are reddish with white, translucent patches; the pitchers persist through the winter. The flower stalk is 5 - 22 inches (12 - 55 cm) tall, leafless, usually slightly shorter than the tallest pitchers. The flower is solitary with 5 drooping, pale yellow petals 1 - 1.5 inches (3 - 4 cm) long, 5 yellow-green sepals, and a pale yellow, umbrella-shaped style disk in the center of the flower. The sepals and style disk persist long after the petals fall, and the fruit – a round, warty capsule about 0.3 - 0.7 inch (0.8 - 1.8 cm) wide – develops.
Okefenokee Hooded Pitcherplant (Sarracenia minor var. okeefenokeensis) is a variety found only in the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia, usually growing on floating peat mats. Its pitchers are much larger, 16 - 47 inches (40 - 120 cm) tall.
Eleven types of Pitcherplant occur in Georgia, including 8 species, 4 varieties, and 2 subspecies. All are considered rare, vulnerable, threatened or endangered.
Sarracenia flava (Yellow Flytrap), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=18445
Sarracenia leucophylla (Whitetop Pitcherplant), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=18829
Sarracenia minor var. minor (Hooded Pitcherplant), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=33691
Sarracenia minor var. okefenokeensis (Okefenokee Giant Pitcherplant), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=33687
Sarracenia oreophila (Green Pitcherplant), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=16880
Sarracenia psittacina (Parrot Pitcherplant), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=15362
Sarracenia purpurea var. montana (Mountain Purple Pitcherplant), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=34032
Sarracenia purpurea var. venosa (Southern Purple Pitcherplant), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=21623
Sarracenia rosea (Rose Pitcherplant), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=34058
Sarracenia rubra ssp. gulfensis (Gulf Sweet Pitcherplant), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=18435
Sarracenia rubra ssp. rubra (Sweet Pitcherplant), https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=19129
Wet savannas and pine flatwoods, seepage slopes, sphagnum seeps in swamps, bogs, and wet ditches.
Pitcherplants capture and digest insects and other small animals in their pitchers. Nectar is produced by glands around the top of the pitcher, luring animals to the opening with its sweet smell. Stiff, down-pointing hairs line the pitcher, encouraging the animals to slide in and impeding their escape. The white patches in the hood and upper pitcher of Hooded Pitcherplants transmit light, further confusing the insects. Enzymes dissolved in water in the base of the pitcher digest the animals, making nutrients, particularly nitrogen, available for absorption by the plant. (Soils of bogs and other permanently saturated wetlands are typically low in nitrogen.)
Pitcherplants reproduce sexually and also vegetatively by the spread of underground stems (rhizomes). They usually reach 4 - 5 years old before they flower and may live to be 20 - 30 years old. The unusual shape of their flowers, with drooping petals and umbrella-like style disk, promotes cross-pollination by insects. When an insect, usually a bee, pushes its way past the petals to reach the nectar and pollen on the interior of the flower, it brushes against one of the stigmas, which are at the pointed tips of the “umbrella,” and deposits pollen gathered from a previously visited flower. Once inside the petals, it picks up pollen from the anthers and from the inner surface of the umbrella and then carries it to the next visited flower, usually avoiding the stigmas as it leaves the flower.
Since it would be a disadvantage to the plant to “eat” its pollinators, many pitcherplants produce flowers before their pitchers are well developed. Others hold their flowers high above the pitchers on long stalks. Pitcherplants are usually 4 - 5 years old before they flower and may live to be 20 - 30 years old.
Hooded Pitcherplant blooms April–May, but its pitchers are recognizable all year.
Coastal Plain of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
Conversion of habitat to pine plantations, pastures, and developments. Ditching and draining of wetlands. Fire suppression, canopy closure, and encroachment by woody plants. Poaching. Digging by feral hogs. Off-road vehicle traffic. Invasion by exotic pest plants.
Hooded Pitcherplant is ranked S4 by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, indicating that it is relatively secure in the state. It is listed as Unusual by the State of Georgia. It was once one of the most common of Georgia’s pitcherplants, historically occurring in at least 50 counties. It was originally added to the state protection list because of the threat of poaching and commercial exploitation. However, its habitat has since been widely destroyed and many of the older populations are now gone. About 30 populations occur on public or conservation lands.
Avoid ditching, draining, mechanical clearing, and other soil-compacting activity. Apply prescribed fire every 2 - 3 years. Limit access to sites to prevent poaching and off-road vehicle traffic. Prosecute poachers. Eradicate feral hogs and exotic pest plants.
Botanical Society of America. 2008. Sarracenia - the pitcher plants. https://botany.org/Carnivorous_Plants/Sarracenia.php
GADNR. 2020. Element occurrence records for Sarracenia minor. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, Social Circle, Georgia.
Godfrey, R.K. and J.W. Wooten. 1981. Aquatic and wetland plants of southeastern United States, Vol. 2, dicotyledons. University of Georgia Press, Athens.
Jennings, D.E. and J.R. Rohr. 2011. A review of the conservation threats to carnivorous plants. Biological Conservation 144: 1356-1363. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320711001078
McDaniel, S. 1971. The genus Sarracenia. Bulletin 9, Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, Florida.
Mellichamp, T.L. and F.W. Case. 2009. Sarracenia minor species account. Flora of North America, Vol. 8. http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Sarracenia_minor
NatureServe. 2020. Species account for Sarracenia minor. NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.142149/Sarracenia_minor
Patrick, T.S., J.R. Allison, and G.A. Krakow. 1995. Protected plants of Georgia. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Program, Social Circle.
Schnell, D.E. 2002. Carnivorous plants of the United States and Canada, 2nd edition. Timber Press, Inc. Portland, Oregon.
Schnell, D.E. 2002. Sarracenia minor Walt. var. okeefenokeensis Schnell: a new variety. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 31: 36-39.
Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-Atlantic States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm
Linda G. Chafin
L.Chafin, Aug. 2008: original account
D.Weiler, Feb. 2010: added pictures
L. Chafin, May 2020: updated original account.
