Sarracenia purpurea

Sarracenia purpurea, known in English as "common pitcher plant" or "purple pitcher plant" and in French as sarracénie pourpre, is a perennial native to a wide swath of Canada from Newfoundland to Alberta, and part of the northeastern United States. Pitcher plant is best known for being carnivorous: insects are trapped and drown in the water collected in the hollow leaves, where they are digested by mosquito larvae and other tiny creatures living in the water, releasing nutrients for use by the plant.

I have never seen this plant in real life, so it was an unexpected thrill to find it in the Purdon Conservation Area in eastern Ontario, which is best known for its showy ladyslippers (Cypripedium reginae, post coming soon!).

I hadn't realized how showy the flowers would be. A very pretty as well as interesting plant!