The generic name Sarracenia is from Michel Sarrazin [1659–1734], a French-Canadian naturalist who first described a specimen of the genus, and oreophila literally means "mountain-loving," from Greek oreophilos (oros, -eos, "mountain," + philos, "loving").

Like other members of the genus Sarracenia, the green pitcher plant traps insects using a tubular rolled leaf which collects digestive juices at the bottom.

The uppermost part of the leaf is flared into a lid (the operculum), which prevents excess rain from entering the pitcher and diluting the digestive secretions within.

Insects losing their footing on this surface plummet to the bottom of the tube, where a combination of digestive fluid, wetting agents and inward-pointing hairs prevent their escape.

The natural habitat of this species dries quickly during July and the small phyllodia are probably easier to maintain with the little water available than its spring pitchers.

[4][8][9] The Recovery Plan focuses on the effective protection of existing populations, as the most important threat to the future of the green pitcher plant is over-collection.

[10] This article incorporates text from the ARKive fact-file "Sarracenia oreophila" under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GFDL.