Common Butterwort
Pinguicula vulgaris
Bladderwort family (Lentibulariaceae)
Endangered (EN)
After a major dip, a slight recovery
Once this carnivorous plant with its little purple flowers was so common on sandy soils that, in the Netherlands, it was nicknamed viooltje, meaning ‘little violet’, and in English the common butterwort. Now, after a major dip it is beginning to recover. Common butterwort is a plant of nitrogen-poor soils.
In order to obtain the extra nutrients it catches little insects with its leaves. The upper surface of the leaf is covered in glands that produce a sweet, sticky secretion. Insects landing on the leaves become stuck and the leaves slowly roles up. The glands secrete digestive juices that dissolve the nitrogen out of the prey. The common butterwort is known in folk medicine to be a healing plant: one extract is an effective remedy for nervousness.
Themes
The common butterwort is known to be a healing plant in traditional medicine: one extract is an effective remedy for nervousness.
The plant can be used to curdle milk. The milk is poured over a strainer on which fresh leaves of butterwort have been laid. The milk is then left for a day or two until it sours and becomes solid like yoghurt and is considered to be delicious. A small quantity of the milk can be kept to inoculate further batches. Another report says that the leaves should be infused in the milk for some time.
Details
| Description: | Carnivorous plant, up to 0.15 m. |
|---|---|
| Distributions: | Europe, north america and parts of asia |
| Habitat: | In open, sunny places on the mildly acidic, nitrogen-poor soils of marshy heathland and cirsio dissecti-molinietum grassland association, especially in stream valleys, its habitat is often permanently wet, with running groundwater. |
| Year cycle: | Perennial (trees and shrubs included) |
| Hardiness: | Colder than -4 f (very hardy) |
| Flowering period: | Mei - juni |
| Flower color: | Purple, white |