Darlingtonia californica

California pitcherplant

Family: Sarraceniaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

California pitcherplant is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada Mountains, and Mendocino County in seeps and boggy serpentine areas at elevations of 60 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from April to June, this unique carnivorous plant produces yellow-green flowers with dark purple veins, 2 to 4 centimeters long, and occasionally showing variant forms without purple veining in Nevada County. Growing with rhizomes and elongated stolons up to one meter long, the plant develops distinctive green-yellow to deep red pitcher-like leaves that are nearly erect and enlarged toward the top. Its remarkable leaves feature a tube-like structure with non-digestive fluids and an opening underneath, creating an ingenious trap for insects. The plant produces obovoid fruits 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters long, containing tiny light red-brown seeds approximately 2 millimeters in size.

Habitat: Seeps, boggy places with running water, generally serpentine

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 60-2200 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO (introduced, Mendocino Co.), n SNH (c Plumas, Sierra, Nevada cos.)

California counties: Plumas, Del Norte, Siskiyou, Trinity, Nevada, Shasta, Humboldt, Sierra, Butte, Placer, Mendocino

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.