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The plant was discovered in 1841 by W. D. Brackenridge, assistant botanist of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, in a marsh a few miles south of Mt. Shasta in northern California. John Torrey, a distinguished botanist of the 19th century, recognized a close relationship to the pitcher plants in the East, yet a clear difference in floral characteristics, and established a new genus in the pitcher plant family, naming it Darlingtonia californica, in honor of his friend and botanist, William Darlington. The genus Darlingtonia is monotypic, i.e., there is only one species in the genus. The pitcher plant family Sarraceniaceae includes two other genera, Sarracenia (Eastern North American pitcher plants) and Heliamphora (South American pitcher plants)....... Click Description for more. |