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Marsh Botanical Garden

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The garden has representatives of the two main lineages of pitcher plants: Nepenthes from the Western Hemisphere Tropics and Sarracenia from North America. The parts of the plants that we think of as “pitchers” are actually modified leaves. These plants use a combination of color, scent, and sweet nectar to attract prey. The rims of the pitcher are very slippery, causing unknowing insects to fall into the belly of the pitcher, which is filled with a fluid rich in enzymes for digestion of the prey. The “lid” of the pitcher prevents rain from diluting this fluid.

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