Sarracenia purpurea Linnaeus var. montana Schnell & Determann. Southern Appalachian Purple Pitcherplant. Phen: May; Jul. Hab: Mountain bogs, seepage bogs, cataract bogs. Dist: Var. montana is restricted to a few dozen populations in the Blue Ridge Mountains of sw. NC (south of Asheville), nw. SC, and ne. GA (Rabun County) and the adjacent Piedmont of w. NC (Iredell and Alexander counties) and nw. SC.

Origin/Endemic status: Endemic

Taxonomy Comments: Montane populations of Sarracenia purpurea (in sw. NC, nw. SC, and ne. GA) show some consistent differences and appear to warrant taxonomic distinction (Schnell & Determann 1997); further study is warranted. For those tolerant of quadrinomial taxonomy, plants in our area can be called S. purpurea ssp. venosa (Rafinesque) Fernald var. montana Schnell & Determann. Allozyme studies by Godt and Hamrick (1999) show striking genetic differences between var. montana, var. purpurea, var. venosa and the Gulf Coast var. burkii, supporting their taxonomic recognition. In fact, the genetic differentiation is greater than that between taxa in the S. rubra complex.

Synonymy: = Sarracenia purpurea L. ssp. venosa (Raf.) Wherry var. montana Schnell & Determann – K1, K3, K4, McPherson & Schnell (2011), Schnell & Determann (1997); < Sarracenia purpurea L. – GW2, RAB, S, S13, W, Bell (1949), Wood (1960); < Sarracenia purpurea L. ssp. purpurea – FNA8; < Sarracenia purpurea L. var. purpurea – Reveal (1993b)

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: OBL (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Great Plains: OBL (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Midwest: OBL (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Northcentral & Northeast: OBL (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)

Heliophily: 8