Description:
The leaves of Sarracenia flava are shaped like tubular trumpets, are erect with a hood covering.  The mature height may reach 4 feet.  These leaves grow from a rhizome which grows at the surface of the soil.  Each rhizome will produce 3 to 5 trumpet shaped leaves annually then will grow winter leaves (phyllodes)  in the fall.  When grown in full sun, these leaves are thick and firm which makes them fairly resistant to wind and rain.  The hood generally keeps the rain water from entering the trumpet, so it will be less likely to fall over. 

Sarracenia flava  is a passive pitfall plant, it doesn’t have to move to capture its insects.  The insects are attracted by nectar produced by glands around the outer edge of the hood and underneath the hood where it attaches to the mouth of the trumpet.  Nectar is also produced around the rim of the trumpet and along the wing formed where the two leaf-edges join.  Any escape for insects venturing inside is virtually impossible. Victims have no alternative but to make their way downwards where they end up being digested by enzymes and bacteria.  Most of the trumpet tubes will become completely full of insects in the season of growth. 

The flowers of the yellow pitcher plant are bore in the springtime usually before any of the new trumpets appear.  The flower stalks usually are taller than the trumpets with bright yellow or yellow-green flowers and petals.  The flower is structured so that it will be crossed pollinated naturally by insects.  The flower is in an inverted position and its ovary adjoins the stalk at the top.  Attached to the ovary, is a style shaped like a five-pointed umbrella.  Each point is a tiny stigma.  Around the ovary are the stamens whose ripe pollen falls into the umbrella, but not on the stigmas. 

 After pollination occurs, you may collect the seed after the ovary turns brown and before it splits, releasing the seeds.  These seed should be stored in a cool dry place, until spring, when they should be sewn on damp peat and kept moist until they germinate.  Germination usually occurs in about 2 to 3 weeks.  Don’t transplant your seedlings until after their first trumpet-shaped leaves appear.