Sarracenia purpurea has been the floral emblem of which Canadian province since 1954?

Sarracenia purpurea has been the floral emblem of Newfoundland and Labrador since 1954.

Often called the purple pitcher plant or northern pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea is a carnivorous species native to wetlands of northeastern North America. Its squat, pitcher-shaped leaves collect rainwater, and insects that slip inside can drown in the liquid. The plant absorbs nutrients released as the prey breaks down.

The emblem has an older history than the provincial designation. Queen Victoria selected the pitcher plant as a symbol for Newfoundland, and it appeared on Newfoundland coinage beginning in the nineteenth century. The provincial government formally designated it as the official flower in 1954, before Newfoundland and Labrador entered Confederation as a province in its present form.

The answer is sometimes shortened to “pitcher plant,” but the quiz asks for the province, not the plant’s common name. It is also not the floral emblem of Canada as a whole: provincial flowers are separate symbols, and Newfoundland and Labrador’s choice is unusual because it is an insect-eating plant. The species is especially associated with the province’s bogs and marshes.