A star-shaped rosette of sticky, yellow-green leaves lies flat on wet moorland, with a single violet flower on a slender stalk
Common butterwort, Pinguicula vulgaris.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
Common butterwort
Native · flowers May–Jul · wet moorland, flushes and acid bogs, mainly north and west
Pinguicula vulgaris — Lentibulariaceae
A carnivorous plant whose star-shaped rosette of yellow-green, greasy-looking leaves lies flat on the ground, with a single violet flower on each slender stalk. Insects stick to the glandular leaf surface and the edges slowly roll inward to digest them. It is commonest in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and north-west England.
How to spot them
- ▸Flat, star-shaped rosette of yellow-green leaves with a shiny, sticky surface that looks greasy or buttery
- ▸Leaf edges curl inward when prey is caught
- ▸One violet-purple, spurred flower on each of 2–3 upright stalks, up to about 15 cm tall (Wildlife Trusts)
- ▸Grows on wet, acid or calcareous ground: bog, wet heath and moorland, and rocky flushes
- ▸Look-alike: pale butterwort (Pinguicula lusitanica) has smaller pale lilac-yellow flowers and grows in wet heaths of the milder south-west and west; sundews have hairy red leaves
How to know it
Its leaves secrete a viscous substance that traps insects, then slowly curl inward to digest them
Common butterwort, a carnivore of nutrient-poor soils.
A folk belief held that rubbing its juice on a cow's udder protected the animal from misfortune and spoilage
Common butterwort — the folk tradition behind its name, per the Wildlife Trusts.
Most prevalent in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with scattered populations in north-west England
Common butterwort, per the Wildlife Trusts.
Its genus name means 'fat' in Latin, for the greasy feel of the leaves
Pinguicula — common butterwort.
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Lentibulariaceae, the bladderwort family
- •Wildlife Trusts: flowers May to July, up to 15 cm tall, in heathland, moorland, acid bogs and fens
- •Mechanism: a viscous secretion on the leaves ensnares insects, and the leaves slowly curl inward to digest the prey, compensating for nutrient-poor soil
- •Most prevalent in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with scattered populations in north-west England (Wildlife Trusts)
- •Folklore: leaf juice rubbed on cows' udders was thought to protect against misfortune and spoilage, which is one explanation of 'butter' in the name
- •Pinguicula is Latin for 'little fat one'; vulgaris means common
- •In Scandinavia the leaves were used to curdle milk into a thick, ropy dish
- •In winter the plant shrinks to a tight bud, or hibernaculum
Drill it — 6 cards
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Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — Common butterwort