Is the Pitcher Plant an Angiosperm?

Pitcher plants are angiosperms. These plants are primarily known for their ability to trap and digest insects. However, the plant is classified as an angiosperm because of the fruiting body that develops from the plant's flower.

Angiosperms

• An angiosperm is any vascular plant (such as an orchid or rose) that has seeds in a closed ovary. Most plants that are recognized as flowering are identified as angiosperms.

  This is in contrast with gymnosperms, which produce naked seeds not enclosed within an ovary. This is well-exemplified with the pine -- the pine cone consists of naked seeds not enclosed within an ovary/fruiting body

Pitcher Plant Taxonomy

• Pitcher plants are within the kingdom Plantae, are vascular and seed plants, fall under the division of flowering plants, are dicots (contain two seed leaves rather than one like grasses do), belong to the order Nepenthales, and are members of the Pitcher-plant family and genus.

Flowers of Pitcher Plants

• The "hood" or top of the "pitcher" can easily be misidentified as the flower or reproductive part of the plant. However, the pitcher is simply a modified leaf and is often colored to resemble a flower to attract nutritionally valuable insects.

  Several varieties of pitcher plants are found in many different ecosystems. The flowers between varieties do vary widely in color (although many are bright and attractive) but most species' flowers grow several inches taller than the pitchers and the rest of the plant.