Purple pitcher plant
Sarracenia purpurea
Also called Sarracenia, Northern pitcher plant and Common pitcher plant
Houseplant · CarnivorousThe hardiest thing in this group by a wide margin — RHS rates it H6, so it can sit outside in a bog planter through a hard winter. Bringing it indoors is what kills it.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Medium
- Water
- Every 3 daysFrom below — stand the pot in a couple of centimetres of water.
- Light
- Full sun, outdoors, all year
- Feed
- Not needed
- Humidity
- Average
- Hardiness
- Hardy — a very cold winter RHS H6, to -20°C
- Size
- 0.3 m tall · 0.35 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- Eastern North America, from Florida to the Canadian subarctic
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsNothing recorded against it
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
PeopleNot checked yet
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-08-05. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- New pitchers open already twisted and stunted, with a sticky film in the centre of the rosette where they came from.Aphids in the crown · pest
- It stays green through December instead of dying back, then makes nothing at all the following spring.Brought indoors for winter · disorder