Question

Purpurea   I've noticed the hoods on my Sarracenia purpurea venosa are changing. When I bought the plant it had four leaves that were green, at my home it has grown more than twice as many leaves and it has become totally red, but I also noticed the hoods of the newer leaves are becoming increasingly closed, It's hard to explain so I'll include a picture. You'll notice the leaf on the right has a much more flared outward hood. I want to know what causes this and what I can do to open them up more or should I be worried at all? I think they look better open wide.

Answer
Hi Danny,

This is actually a very normal appearance for this plant.  This looks like a Sarracenia rosea (originally named S. purpurea var. burkii) and they can have quite a bit of variability in appearance of the pitcher hoods.  I've found in ours that the more open hoods are more common on younger plants, or leaves that have formed in slightly lower light, such as earlier in the spring.  In any case it's nothing to be concerned about.  The more closed hood is probably more efficient at capturing insects.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com