Sun Pitcher Plant – Heliamphora

The Sun Pitcher Plant (Heliamphora) is an exotic pitcher plant growing among the clouds of South America. A relative of the North American Sarracenia and Darlingtonia californica, the pitfall traps turn solid hues of green, red, and dark purple. They employ many of the same tactics as other pitcher plants – a “pitfall” trap with slick surfaces, sweet nectar trails, and sharp downward-facing hairs to prevent insect escape – but in a streamlined appearance as compared to its cousins. Unique physiological characteristics include thicker, squat pitchers, a nectar spoon above the trap’s opening, and beautiful white-pink flowers that lack petals.

In the last few decades, numerous additional Heliamphora species were discovered bringing the total to 23 – more than the species of Sarracenia in North America.