Parts of a Pitcher Plant – Labeled Trap, Cut Open

All 15 parts on the diagram

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A hanging pitcher 9

Leaf blade A sword-shaped leaf with a smooth edge. Its midrib runs on past the tip.
Tendril The midrib of the leaf, running on. The pitcher forms at its end.
Pitcher The trap: a hollow cup that starts as a small bud.
Lid It keeps rain from watering down the fluid inside.
Rim (peristome) A slippery ring round the mouth. Insects lose their footing on it.
Waxy zone A slick coat of wax that insects cannot climb.
Digestive zone Its glands take in food from the insects the trap has caught.
Fluid The plant makes this fluid, and its prey drowns in it.
Stem Most of these plants are vines, and the stem climbs.

A trumpet pitcher 6

Tube The leaf itself, hollow and shaped like a trumpet.
Hood It keeps rain from filling the tube too full.
Rolled lip It gives off nectar, which draws insects to the mouth.
Wing A flat flange that runs down the front of the tube.
Rhizome An underground stem. The pitchers grow up from it.
Flower One nodding flower grows on each tall stalk. Its style is shaped like an open umbrella.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 and kept only where two of these use it. (1) Moran and Clarke, The carnivorous syndrome in Nepenthes pitcher plants, Plant Signaling and Behavior 5(6), 2010, open access, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3001552/ : leaf blades, looped tendrils with the pitchers at their tips, the lid and the peristome (a collar round the mouth), the waxy zone, the digestive glands of the lower inner wall, the pitcher fluid that drowns the prey. (2) North Carolina State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Nepenthes, Sarracenia and Sarracenia purpurea, https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/nepenthes/ , https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/sarracenia/ , https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/sarracenia-purpurea/ : the midrib running on as a tendril with the pitcher at its tip, the lid that keeps rain out, the hood or lid of the trumpet kinds, the winged extension down the front of the leaf, rhizomes, solitary nodding flowers. (3) Britton and Brown, An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, 2nd ed. 1913, vol. 2, Sarraceniaceae (public domain), https://archive.org/details/illustratedflora02brit : leaves hollow, pitcher-form or trumpet-shaped, with a lateral wing and a terminal lid; scapose nodding solitary flowers; the style spread into an umbrella-like structure. (4) An online carnivorous plant FAQ by a botanist, the page on how these pitchers trap, http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq5520.html : the pitcher lip and its nectar, the lid as rain shield, the flange down the front of the pitcher tube, the rhizome. (5) Wikipedia, text only, Nepenthes, Sarracenia and Pitcher plant, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepenthes , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarracenia : the climbing stem, sword-shaped leaves, tendril, peristome, lid, waxy coating of the upper inner wall, glands of the lower part, the fluid secreted by the plant; the vertical tube, hood, rolled lip and rhizome. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A pitcher plant is a carnivorous plant whose leaves form deep traps. The first drawing is a tropical pitcher plant with a window cut in its pitcher. The second is a trumpet pitcher of North America.

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How the hanging pitcher traps

The midrib of each leaf runs on past the tip as a tendril, and the pitcher forms at its end. An insect lands on the ribbed rim, slips and falls. The waxy zone on the upper wall gives its feet no hold. It drowns in the fluid, and glands in the digestive zone take in the food.

The trumpet pitcher

Here the whole leaf is the trap: a hollow tube rising from a rhizome under the soil. A wing runs down its front, a rolled lip gives off nectar, and a hood stands over the mouth. The flower nods at the top of its own stalk.

The lid and the hood do not snap shut. Both stay open and keep rain out of the trap.
The quiz takes operculum for lid, and peristome for rim.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a pitcher plant?

A tropical pitcher plant has a stem, a leaf blade, a tendril and a pitcher with a lid, a rim called the peristome, a waxy zone, a digestive zone and fluid. A trumpet pitcher has a tube, hood, rolled lip, wing and rhizome.

Is the pitcher a flower or a leaf?

A leaf. On a tropical pitcher plant the trap grows at the end of a tendril, which is the leaf's own midrib running on. On a trumpet pitcher the whole hollow leaf is the trap. The flowers grow apart, on stalks of their own.

What is the peristome of a pitcher plant?

The rim round the mouth of the pitcher. It is slippery, more so when wet, so an insect that walks on it loses its footing and falls into the trap.

What is the liquid inside a pitcher plant?

A fluid the plant makes itself. Prey that falls in drowns in it and is broken down there, and glands in the lower wall of the pitcher take in the food.