Purple Pitcher Plant vs Woolgrass - TreeTime.ca

Purple Pitcher Plant vs Woolgrass

Sarracenia purpurea

Scirpus cyperinus

CUSTOM GROW

CUSTOM GROW

Purple Pitcher Plant
Woolgrass

Purple Pitcher Plant is a native carnivorous plant, easily recognized by its purple-tinged, tubular pitchers that capture and digest insects. The nectar along the rim attracts insects to the pitcher, where slippery surfaces and downward-pointing hairs cause them to fall into the fluid below. Once inside, they are broken down, providing nutrients that allow the plant to thrive in nutrient-poor soils.
The plant produces nodding, purple-red flowers held high above the leaves. Interestingly, these blooms are pollinated by the Pitcher Plant Fly (Fletcherimyia fletcheri), whose larvae live in the fluid of the pitchers and feed on some of the trapped insects. It can be found in bogs, fens, and other wetlands. It is well-suited for wetland gardens, restoration, and naturalisation projects.
The Purple Pitcher Plant can be challenging to grow because of its specific requirements. It thrives in consistently moist (but not waterlogged), acidic soil, with a peat-and-sand mix typically recommended. The plant is sensitive to fertilizers, dissolved salts, and chlorinated water. When given the right conditions, full sun will bring out its brightest colors.
The Purple Pitcher Plant is the provincial flower of Newfoundland & Labrador.

Woolgrass is a native perennial sedge that forms dense clumps in wetlands, ditches, and along shorelines. Its ability to thrive in saturated soils and shallow water, combined with its spreading growth habit, makes it especially valuable for waterside & riparian plantings, erosion control, ecological restoration, and naturalization projects.
The distinctive spikelets are covered in brown woolly bristles, which is where it gets the name Woolgrass. It produces seeds that are eaten by waterfowl and small mammals, while its dense stems offer cover and nesting habitat. It grows most actively in spring and fall, slowing or going dormant in the summer heat.

Purple Pitcher Plant Quick Facts

Woolgrass Quick Facts

Zone: 2b
Zone: 3a
Height: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: wet
Moisture: wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: fast
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Growth form: decumbent to upright, colony-forming
Growth form: upright, colony-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium
Spreading: rhizomes - medium


Foliage: red to purple, tubular pitchers with hooded tops
Flowers: large nodding red flowers
Bloom time: summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, NT, NU, PE
Native to: MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, PE
Other Names: huntsmans cup, northern pitcher plant
Other Names: brown woolly sedge, common woolgrass, common woolly bulrush, cottongrass bulrush, marsh bulrush, wool grass