The California pitcher plant (Darlingtonia californica, cobra lilly) is a carnivorous plant native to the Pacific Northwest, and the only child in the Darlingtonia genus of the Sarraceniaceae family. It grows in bogs and places with running water, and purportedly evolved to catch the flies in the habitat. It gets the name ‘cobra lily’ for its arch and leaves that reselbe a cobra rearing its head. Like other carnivorous plants, it gets its nitrogen supply from the prey it feeds on.
Since the top of the pitcher is curved upnder, it doesn’t trap rainwater in its pitcher and has to rely on water from the roots.
The translucent head of the Darlingtonia confuses and tires insects trying to escape. It becomes too much for them and they fall down the slippery side into a waiting pool of enzymes waiting to digest the offender. Little information is known on how the Darlingtonia replicates.
