Introductory
SPECIES: Pinguicula vulgaris | Common Butterwort 



ABBREVIATION : 
PINVUL

SYNONYMS : 
NO-ENTRY


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   PIVU


COMMON NAMES : 
   common butterwort
   butterwort


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name of common butterwort is
Pinguicula vulgaris L.


LIFE FORM : 
Forb

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
Common butterwort is rare in Montana where it is at the edge of its
range [9].


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Tara Y. Williams/October 1990


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Williams, Tara Y. 1990. Pinguicula vulgaris. In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Pinguicula vulgaris | Common Butterwort 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Common butterwort is circumboreal.  In North America, it extends south
to southwestern Oregon, Montana, Michigan, and New York [4].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES37  Mountain meadows
   FRES44  Alpine


STATES : 
     AK  MI  MT  NH  NY  OR  VT  WA  AB  BC
     MB  NB  NF  NS  NT  ON  PQ  SK  YT


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     APIS  DENA  GLBA  GLAC  ISRO  MORO
     NOCA  OLYM  PIRO


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
   2  Cascade Mountains
   8  Northern Rocky Mountains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K052  Alpine meadows and barren


SAF COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
NO-ENTRY

VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Pinguicula vulgaris | Common Butterwort 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
NO-ENTRY


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
If the rate of succession is slow compared to the rate of climatic
changes, common butterwort could be useful for monitoring global
climatic change.  The year to year variation in abundance is low [8].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Pinguicula vulgaris | Common Butterwort 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Common butterwort is a fibrous-rooted perennial insectivore that grows 1
to 6 inches (3-15 cm) tall.  The spurred flowers are lavender-purple or
nearly white.  The succulent leaves are 1 to 2 inches (2-5 cm) long.
The leaves have a slimy upper surface which is produced by secretions
from two types of glands.  Stalked glands produce a sticky substrate
which aids in trapping insects, and sessile glands produce enzymes which
digest the prey.  After an insect is caught by the sticky secretions,
the leaf folds over the insect, and enzymes are released for digestion
[4,12].  Studies have shown that phosphorus is apparently the most
important nutrient obtained from the insects.  Plants fed insects also
took up more soil nitrogen.  The majority of prey taken were flies
(Nematocera), and most were caught early in July.  The leaves often died
after trapping the insect because folding reduced the amount of surface
area available for photosynthesis [1,5,6].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
NO-ENTRY


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Common butterwort has been reported in a variety of habitats, including
bogs and wet soil in mountains, a subalpine mire, and growing out of
water.  It occurs at low and mid altitudes and at high altitudes in the
Northeast.  It survives in areas that have a subarctic growing season of
60 to 90 days.  It was found in a relatively open microsite undergoing
succession to a more closed canopy.  It grows best on calcareous sites
but will grow on ombrotrophic (low pH) sites as well.  It will grow in
nutrient-poor soils [1,4,5,8,11,12].  It is associated with alpine
manzanita (Arcotstaphylos alpina), dwarf arctic birch (Betula nana),
alpine azaela (Loiseleuria procumbens), and crowberry (Empetrum nigrum),
and Cladonia spp. [6].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Common butterwort flowers in late July and August in the Northwest [4,8]
and in June and July in the Northeast [11].

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Pinguicula vulgaris | Common Butterwort 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
NO-ENTRY

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Pinguicula vulgaris | Common Butterwort 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
NO-ENTRY


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
NO-ENTRY


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

References for species: Pinguicula vulgaris

1. Aldenius, Johan; Carlsson, Bengt; Karlsson, Staffan. 1983. Effects of insect trapping on growth and nutrient content on Pinguicula vulgaris L. in reltation to the nutrient content of the substrate. New Phytologist. 93: 53-59. [13849]

2. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. [434]

3. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others]. 1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]

4. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur; Ownbey, Marion. 1959. Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest. Part 4: Ericaceae through Campanulaceae. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 510 p. [1170]

5. Karlsson, P. S.; Carlsson, B. 1984. Why does Pinguicula vulgaris L. trap insects? New Phytologist. 97: 25-30. [13843]

6. Karlsson, P. S.; Nordell, K. O.; Eirefelt, S.; Svensson, A. 1987. Trapping efficiency of three carnivorous Pinguicula species. Oecologia. 73: 518-521. [13844]

7. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York: American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]

8. Whitney, Gordon G. 1986. A demographic analysis of Rubus idaeus and Rubus pubescens. Canadian Journal of Botany. 64: 2916-2921. [120]

9. Lesica, P.; Moore, G.; Peterson, K. M.; Rumely, J. H. 1984. Vascular plants of limited distribution in Montana. Monograph No. 2. Proceedings, Montana Academy of Sciences. 43(Supplement): 1-61. [11656]

10. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]

11. Voss, Edward G. 1972. Michigan flora. Part I. Gymnosperms and monocots. Bloomfield Hills, MI: Cranbrook Institute of Science; Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Herbarium. 488 p. [11471]

12. Standley, Paul C. 1921. Flora of Glacier National Park, Montana. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Vol. 22, Part 5. Washington, DC: United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution: 235-438. [12318]

13. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982. National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names. SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]

Related categories for Species: Pinguicula vulgaris | Common Butterwort