‘Dixie Lace’ Pitcherplant is a hybrid, introduced by local NC botanists Larry Mellichamp and Rob Gardner. Technically, the lineage is: (Sarracenia leucophylla x Sarracenia rubra ssp. wherryi) x (Sarracenia psittacina x Sarracenia purpurea). A cross of two hybrid crosses! But do not be dismayed, the genes are local as all Sarracenias are North American in origin. (The USDA plant distribution link below is for the genus Sarracenia.) In mid-spring, there are 18-inch flower stalks with dangling maroon red flowers. Then there is lovely maroon veining and a curved hood on each emerging pitcher, growing into in a wonderful, fat clump of colorful pitchers about one foot in height, but 18″ wide. Insects and spiders are attracted to and passively “captured” in the pitchers, where their soft parts are digested enzymatically. Sarracenias evolved in habitats low in nitrogen and phosphorus, nutrients which are therefore derived instead from insect prey. Cultivated pitcherplants should never be fertilized. ‘Dixie Lace’ can easily be grown in a container in peatmoss and perlite or sand, in full sun, and watered with deionized water (to control salt accumulation), as long as it is allowed to undergo a cold spell in the winter when it is dormant and is not permitted to dry out.
