Biology
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Common butterwort is a perennial plant that spends the winter as a dormant rootless bud (2). The habitats in which it occurs are so poor in nutrients that the evolutionary adaptation of feeding on insects has developed. Other plants living in such habitats, such as sundews, have also developed this trait.
Conservation
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Conservation action has not been targeted at this species.
Description
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Butterwort is an insectivorous plant. It produces bright purple flowers that have earned the species the alternative names of bog violet and marsh violet (4). The bright yellowish-green leaves feature numerous glands that secrete a sticky fluid which attracts insects. When the insects become trapped, the leaf slowly curls inwards and eventually the insect will be digested (5). The species is known as butterwort as it was thought to have magical properties and the juices from the leaves were rubbed onto cows' udders in order to protect the milk (and resulting butter) from evil influences (4).
Habitat
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Found in nutrient-poor damp habitats, including bogs, fens, wet heaths and in rock crevices (2) (3).
Range
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This species is fairly common throughout much of Britain, with the exception of central and southern England where it becomes rare and is even absent from several counties (2). In these areas, the species has declined by a worrying 50% since 1930, but many of its sites were lost before the nineteenth century (3).
Status
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Not threatened (3).
Threats
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The decline of this species is due to the widespread loss and drainage of the wet habitats in which it occurs. Agricultural intensification is also to blame, and the decline of common butterwort is continuing today (3).
Associations
provided by BioImages, the virtual fieldguide, UK
Animal / predator
leaf of Pinguicula vulgaris is predator of adult of Diptera
Other: major host/prey
Animal / predator
leaf of Pinguicula vulgaris is predator of adult of Hymenoptera
Other: major host/prey
Animal / predator
leaf of Pinguicula vulgaris is predator of adult of Formicidae
Other: minor host/prey
Animal / predator
leaf of Pinguicula vulgaris is predator of adult of Coleoptera
Other: minor host/prey
Animal / predator
leaf of Pinguicula vulgaris is predator of adult of Lepidoptera
Other: minor host/prey
Animal / predator
leaf of Pinguicula vulgaris is predator of adult of Araneae
Brief Summary
provided by EOL authors
There are about 80 species of butterwort. These plants trap insects on their sticky leaves. The leaves then digest the insects. Many butterworts have different leaves in winter that do not eat insects. The Common butterwort lives in marshes, bogs, and swamps around the world. Its purple flowers have given it the name marsh violet or bog violet.
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Pinguicula vulgaris
provided by wikipedia EN
Pinguicula vulgaris, the common butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous plant in the bladderwort family, Lentibulariaceae.
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.[1] 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.[2] The taxonomic status of these forms is not universally recognised - see e.g. The Plant List.[3]
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.[4] 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.[4][5] Insect capture is an adaptation to nutrient-poor conditions, and the plant is highly dependent on insects for nitrogen.[6]
Distribution
It has a generally circumboreal distribution, being native to almost every country in Europe as well as Russia, Canada, and the United States.[5][7] It is generally found growing in places such as bogs, fens, alvars, and other areas with limestone bedrock and alkaline waters.[5]
Pinguicula vulgaris near Mývatn, northern Iceland
References
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^ Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Lone Pine Publishing, 1994. p. 351
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^ The Savage Garden, Revised: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants. Random House LLC, 2013.
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^ "The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1.: Pinguicula vulgaris L." London, U.K.: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic Garden. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
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^ a b "Nature up close: The carnivorous Butterwort plant". CBS News. June 14, 2018. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
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^ a b c "A Circumboreal Butterwort". In Defense of Plants. December 30, 2015. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
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^ Karlsson, P. S.; Carlsson, B. (1984). "Why Does Pinguicula vulgaris L. Trap Insects?". The New Phytologist. 97 (1): 25–30. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1984.tb04105.x. JSTOR 2434191.
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^ Anderberg, Arne. "Den Virtuella Floran, Pinguicula vulgaris L." Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Pinguicula vulgaris: Brief Summary
provided by wikipedia EN
Pinguicula vulgaris, the common butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous plant in the bladderwort family, Lentibulariaceae.
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- cc-by-sa-3.0
- copyright
- Wikipedia authors and editors
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