''Pinguicula vulgaris'', the common

butterwort ''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 ...

, is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryot ...

in the bladderwort family,

Lentibulariaceae Lentibulariaceae is a family of carnivorous plants containing three genera: ''Genlisea'', the corkscrew plants; ''Pinguicula'', the butterworts; and ''Utricularia'', the bladderworts. The genera ''Polypompholyx'' (two species of pink petticoats ...

Description

It grows to a height of 3–16 cm, and is topped with a purple, and occasionally white, flower that is 15 mm or longer, and shaped like a funnel. This butterwort grows in damp environments such as bogs and swamps, in low or subalpine elevations. Being native to environments with cold winters, they produce a winter-resting bud ( hibernaculum). There are three forms originating from Europe: ''P. vulgaris'' f. ''bicolor'' which has petals that are white and purple; ''P. vulgaris'' f. ''albida'' which has all white petals; and ''P. vulgaris'' f. ''alpicola'' which has larger flowers.''The Savage Garden, Revised: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants''. Random House LLC, 2013. The taxonomic status of these forms is not universally recognised - see e.g. The Plant List. Common butterwort is an insectivorous plant. Its leaves have glands that excrete a sticky fluid which traps insects to its leaves; its glands also produce digestive enzymes which work to consume the insects externally. This serves as a way for the plant to access a source of nitrogen as they generally grow in soil that is acidic and low in nutrients, such as bogs.

Distribution

It has a generally

circumboreal The Circumboreal Region in phytogeography is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan. It is the largest floristic region in t ...

distribution, being native to almost every country in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

as well as

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is generally found growing in places such as bogs,

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich Groundwater, ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as ...

s, alvars, and other areas with limestone bedrock and alkaline waters. Pinguicula vulgaris flower (side view) - Keila.jpg, Flower from the side, Niitvälja bog,

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Pinguicula vulgaris_LC0331.jpg, Whole plant,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Pinguicula vulgaris - Iceland - 2007-07-08.jpg, Pinguicula vulgaris near

Mývatn () is a shallow lake situated in an area of active volcanism in the north of Iceland, not far from Krafla volcano. It has a high amount of biological activity. The lake and the surrounding wetlands provides a habitat for a number of waterbirds, e ...

, northern Iceland

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
Carnivorous plants of North America vulgaris Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Lentibulariaceae-stub