Pinguicula-vulgaris_10

Description:

Pinguicula vulgaris L.Sp. PlCommon Butterwort, DE: Gewhnlichen Fettkraut, Gewhnliches FettblatSlo.: navadna mastnicaDat.: June 6. 2012Lat.: 46.34647 Long.: 13.98599Code: Bot_627/2012_DSC3962Habitat: Alpine high marsh, grassland, flat terrain, calcareous ground, full sun, exposed to direct precipitations, average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 3-5 deg C, elevation 1.215 m (4.000 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: wet soil.Place: Pokljuka flats, near the road from Gorjue village to Mrzli studenc place, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia EC. Comment: Pinguicula vulgaris is an insect eating plant. It catches small insects with its fairly thick, like fatty and sticky ground leaves (Latin word 'pinguiculus' means 'very fat'). After insects get stuck the leaf rolls together and slowly digests them. When the job is done, the leaf opens again waiting on new victims. This behavior is not the main source of food of the plant, but more a kind of 'supplement' required, or at least wellcome, to enable growth on very nutrition poor ground.Two species of this genus grow in Slovenia, Pinguicula vulgaris and Pinguicula alpina. Both are carnivorous and have very similar habitus. In spite of this, distinguishing between both is easy. P. alpina has white flowers while P. vulgaris is violet-blue. Slovenian name of P. vulgaris 'navadna mastnica' is unfortunately a straight translation of Latin name. 'Vulgaris' translates to 'navadna', that means 'common'. But it is not! It is quite rare and far less common than P. alpina. Protected according to 'Uredba o zavarovanih prostoiveih rastlinskih vrstah', Ur.l. RS, t. 46/2004 (Regulation on protected wild plants, Official gazette of Republic of Slovenia, No. 46/2004) Ref.:(1) D. Aeschimann, K. Lauber, D.M. Moser, J.P. Theurillat, Flora Alpina, Vol. 2., Haupt (2004), p 300.(2) K. Lauber and G. Wagner, Flora Helvetica, 5. Auflage, Haupt (2012), p 944.(3) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora sterreich Liechtenstein, Sdtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 763.(4) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije, Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007) (in Slovene), p 583.