Pinguicula vulgaris
Common butterwort
de:User:Jutta234 · CC BY-SA 3.0
About
The common butterwort, *Pinguicula vulgaris*, is a perennial carnivorous plant notable for its sticky, nutrient-trapping leaves and its ability to produce a winter-resting bud (hibernaculum).
Field notes
Morphology
The plant grows to a height of 3–16 centimetres and produces a funnel-shaped flower that is 15 millimetres or longer, typically purple or occasionally white. It has three recognized forms: *P. vulgaris* f. bicolor (white and purple petals), *P. vulgaris* f. albida (all white petals), and *P. vulgaris* f. alpicola (larger flowers).
Distribution & habitat
It has a circumboreal distribution, native to almost every country in Europe, as well as Russia, Canada, and the United States. It is generally found in bogs, fens, alvars, and areas with limestone bedrock and alkaline waters.
Ecology
The species is insectivorous, using sticky glands on its leaves to trap insects. These glands also produce enzymes that digest the trapped prey, allowing the plant to access nitrogen in nutrient-poor, acidic soils like bogs.
Habitat
- Altitude
- 0–2,100 m
- Altitude Class
- intermediate
- Native To
- United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Canada, United States
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Temperature
- Summer 15–22°C / Winter dormancy -5–4°C
- Humidity
- 60–85%
- Notes
- Widespread Holarctic temperate species. Hibernaculum dormancy.
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