Newfoundland & Labrador - The Pitcher Plant

The pitcher plant (sarracenia purpurea) is a unique and hardy plant found on bogs and marshes throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. This little plant, with wine and green-coloured flowers, survives on insects collected in its tubular leaves. While other plants find nutrients to survive in the soil, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, the pitcher plant has adapted to an environment deficient in these vital nutrients by finding an alternate source. Its leaves and structure are expertly formed to survive, and regardless of its conditions, the pitcher plant remains intensely resilient, infinitely adaptable, and naturally and remarkably beautiful.

For many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, the pitcher plant represents a flexibility and distinctiveness that we associate with. In 1954, the Newfoundland Cabinet designated this unusual and interesting plant as the official flower of the province.

The significance of the pitcher plant in Newfoundland and Labrador
The pitcher plant is a symbol that represents Newfoundland and Labrador’s natural beauty, humanity, and strength of our collective character. One that has adapted to this place over generations, survived everything the world has thrown at it, and thrived. It’s a symbol of our creativity, of our way of looking at things differently, and of our belief that there really is no place on Earth quite like our home, Newfoundland and Labrador. Both simple and amazing, possessing of a fierce determination, and standing proud in both sun and storm, it is a symbol of who we are, and what we’re made of. It is always growing, head to the wind.

The pitcher plant is a symbol that reflects who we are and what we stand for. It is a symbol that speaks our language, and is as unique as the people who live here, in every corner of Newfoundland and Labrador.