The hooded pitcher plant (Sarracenia minor) is the only Sarracenia with a range extending into the Florida peninsula. In the warmer zones, it is tolerant of the lack of dormancy; most of the ascidia (tubular leaves) remain green through the winter. Although, the hooded pitchers grow best in wet situations, they can be found in drier parts of savannahs and pinewoods. In the Florida interior, they grow along seepage slopes of old stabilized dunes.

In the early spring, new pitcher growth and flowering occur simultaneously. The pale green flowers are generally shorter than the pitchers and have no human-detectable scent. Other species of Sarracenia hold their flowers well above the pitchers or flower before new pitcher growth.

The fenestrations (light-windows) on the adaxial side (back) of the pitchers are transparent to light. This adaptation is thought to encourage or confuse insects entering the trap. The abaxial side (front) of the pitcher has an ala (wing) that serves to reinforce the structure.

In the wild, this wing acts like an ant highway. A single file of black ants climbs the ala to partake of the nectar at the pitcher's lip, a diminished file returns downward. Pitchers completely filled with dead ants are testimony to greed; both the plant's and the ants'.