North American pitcher plant (Sarracenia leucophylla) is so greedy he even looks greedy, sitting there with his big mouth wide open all the time, just waiting. His striking pitchers can be solid green, red-veined or lacy, but don't be deceived by his beauty: This guy's a savage. Each pitcher has what looks like an open lid, but it never closes; its purpose is merely to lure as it becomes dotted with a sweet, intoxicating nectar that makes insects drunk and causes them to stumble into the trap. The inside of each pitcher is a slimy, slippery slide lined with downward-angled hairs that make it impossible to escape. It becomes stuck as if to flypaper. But this pitcher plant is unlike his Asian cousin and digests prey without liquid. Though native to swamps and bogs in the South, this plant will be just as happy in the Northeast in a container by your sunny window.
Garden Detective: Carnivorous plants
When we brought my mutt of a puppy home three years ago, she tore up the house. For the first two years of her life, I could often be heard muttering that plants were better than puppies because they were well-behaved and provided joy without causing any pain, and what was I thinking getting another dog, anyway? As it turns out, I now have some ill-mannered plants in my house, and although they're quite destructive, I'm not muttering at all. Let me introduce you to them. --Jessica Damiano
