Alabama is the center of diversity for North America’s family of Pitcher Plants, the Sarraceniaceae. These are some of the tallest and showiest of all carnivorous plants. They are also some of the most imperiled. With the cutting of the longleaf pine forest and removal of fire from most of their original native range, Pitcher plant populations throughout the Southeast have plummeted to perhaps less than 2% of what they once were.

The Arboretum is actively involved with the conservation of both of Alabama’s pitcher plant species that are listed as Federally Endangered. You can see these and every other species of native Southeastern pitcher plants, as well as some naturally occurring hybrids and horticultural varieties, in the bog complex that surrounds our outdoor classroom.

View the Pitcher Plants Gallery.