''Pinguicula conzattii'' is an insectivorous plant of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Pinguicula ''Pinguicula'', commonly known as the butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition ...

'' native to the Mexican state of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

, a member of the

section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

'' Heterophyllum''. Closely related to ''

Pinguicula mirandae ''Pinguicula'', commonly known as the butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition ...

'', it is notable for being

pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe: * people or animals undergoing puberty * plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes * insects that are covered in setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a ...

on both sides of its winter leaves.Zamudio, S. and van Marm, J; Pinguicula conzattii'' (Lentibulariaceae), una especie nueva del estado de Oaxaca, Mexico''; Acta Botanica Mexicana. It is named in honour of

Cassiano Conzatti Cassiano Conzatti (13 August 1862 Civezzano – 2 March 1951 Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Oaxaca), aka Cassiano Bartolameotti-Conzatti, was a botanist, botanical explorer and pteridologist, and director of the Oaxaca Botanical Garden in Mexico. Conzatti lived a ...

, an Italian-born botanist who spent most of his life in Mexico.

Morphology

''Pinguicula conzattii'' is a perennial rosetted herb bearing stiff, ground-hugging rotund 28–50 mm. (1-2 in.) long leaves borne on 10–20 mm. (⅜–⅞ in) petioles. These are densely covered with stalked mucilaginous and sessile digestive glands, which serve to trap and digest

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

prey and absorb the resulting nutrient mixture to supplement their nitrate-low environment. During dryer winter conditions when food is scarce, ''P. conzattii'' forms winter rosettes of short, non-carnivorous leaves to decrease the loss of energy used on carnivorous mechanisms, showing clearly the cost of carnivory. The flowers are white to violet, and appear at the onset of succulent non-carnivorous winter rosette in November.

Distribution and habitat

''Pinguicula conzattii'' is known only from its type location near Santiago Nuyoo in the district of

Tlaxiaco Tlaxiaco is a city, and its surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the Tlaxiaco District in the south of the Mixteca Region, with a population of about 17,450. The city is formally known as He ...

in the Mexican state of

. Here it grows on well-shaded vertical rock walls at around 2700 m. in altitude. Although it appears to have an extremely restricted distribution, little is yet known about this species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7195836 conzattii Endemic flora of Mexico Flora of Oaxaca Carnivorous plants of North America Plants described in 2003