What is "sarracenia"

Sarracenia \Sar`ra*ce"ni*a\, n. [NL. So named after a Dr. Sarrazin of Quebec.] (Bot.) A genus of American perennial herbs growing in bogs; the American pitcher plant.

Note: They have hollow pitcher-shaped or tubular leaves, and solitary flowers with an umbrella-shaped style. Sarracenia purpurea, the sidesaddle flower, is common at the North; S. flava, rubra, Drummondii, variolaris, and psittacina are Southern species. All are insectivorous, catching and drowning insects in their curious leaves. See Illust. of Sidesaddle flower, under Sidesaddle.

n. Any of various pitcher plants of genus (taxlink Sarracenia genus noshow=1)

Sarracenia ( or ) is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants, commonly called trumpet pitchers. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera Darlingtonia and Heliamphora.

Sarracenia is a genus of carnivorous plants indigenous to the eastern seaboard of the United States, Texas, the Great Lakes area and southeastern Canada, with most species occurring only in the south-east United States (only S. purpurea occurs in cold-temperate regions). The plant's leaves have evolved into a funnel or pitcher shape in order to trap insects.

The plant attracts its insect prey with secretions from extrafloral nectaries on the lip of the pitcher leaves, as well as a combination of the leaves' color and scent. Slippery footing at the pitcher's rim, aided in at least one species by a narcotic drug lacing the nectar, causes insects to fall inside, where they die and are digested by the plant with proteases and other enzymes.