FNPS Plant Database

Sarracenia flava

Trumpet pitcher plant, yellow pitcher plant
  • Photo by: Jeannie Brodhead, Saracennia Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

Trumpet pitcher plant, yellow pitcher plant

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Sarracenia flava

Family:

Sarraceniaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

Flower

Size:

2–3 ft

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

yellow

Fruit Color:

yellow or red

Phenology:

Blooms in spring, fruits visible and showy into fall-winter. Winter dormant

Noted For:

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Bog gardens.

Considerations:

Availability:

Propagation:

Seed.

Light:

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry

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Usually moist, occasional inundation -to- Usually moist, occasional inundation

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Soil pH:

Acidic

Suitable to Grow In:

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.

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Vouchered In:

Distribution
Vouchered
Not vouchered
Selected
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No county distribution is available for this plant yet.
Starting…
Map coded by Melissa Fernandez-de Cespedes (Paynes Prairie Chapter)

Ecology

Wildlife:

Pollinators

Insectivorous. Larval host for epaulleted pitcher plant moth. A number of insect groups visit the flowers but their role in pollination is unknown. Most likely as pollinators are small bees.

Native Habitats:

Savannas, bogs, seep slopes. Benefits from fire

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments:

Found from Alabama (probably also in Mississippi), east into Florida and up the coastal plain to Virginia with occasional outlying populations. Trapping insects in the trumpet-shaped leaves is an adaptation to nutrient-poor soil conditions of wet or frequently flooded areas in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Insects are lured into the slippery waxy portion of the upper pitcher tube by attractant odors and then slide down a coating of ultra-fine, downward point hairs, hitting the digestive enzymes.
FNPS Plant Print

Citations:

D'Amato, Peter. (2013). The Savage Garden, Revised: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants. Ten Speed Press, Emeryville, CA.


Jones, Frank Morton. (1908). Pollination in Sarracenia [in] Pitcher plant insects III. Entomological News 19: 150-156, Pls. VIII, IX. ( https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/pollination-in-sarracenia ). Accessed 2026.


Hammer, Roger. (2015). Attracting Hummingbirds and Butterflies in Tropical Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.


Nelson, Gil. (2005). East Gulf Coastal Plain Wildflowers. Falcon Guides, Guilford, CT.


North American Sarracenia Conservancy. (Undated). Pollination. ( https://www.nasarracenia.org/guides/pollination/ ). Accessed 2026.


Mackie, Robin. (Undated). Plant of the Week: Yellow Pitcherplant. ( https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/sarracenia_flava.shtml ). Accessed 2026. U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.


Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. (1999+). Atlas of Florida Plants. ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ). [S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), USF Water Institute.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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