Pitcher Plants Within Tarkiln Bayou

There are six types of pitcher plants in the Sarracenia genus that can be found in Florida's state parks.

Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park hosts the white-topped, parrot, purple and red. Pitcher plant habitats were once common throughout the Florida Panhandle, but habitats have since been fragmented and developed at a rate that has placed the white-topped and red pitcher plants on the designated species list. Red pitcher plants are believed to still occur in Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park but have not been observed in some time.

Pitcher plants have adapted to nutrient-poor soils by becoming carnivorous. They make up for the lack of nutrients by utilizing their modified leaves or “pitchers” to capture small prey such as insects that may happen to get trapped inside their pitcher.

Capturing insects is achieved by attracting the insects, and sometimes small lizards, with a secretion on the lip of the pitcher and by emitting ultraviolet light.

Pitcher plants are some of many fire-dependent species found in wet prairies and are affected by any alteration to the hydrological regime.  

Efforts to improve pitcher plant habitat within Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park have included the use of prescribed fire, the removal of encroaching woody species such as black titi, and the future hydrological restoration of sheet flow along the northwest boundary.