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Pinguicula alpina
Alpine butterwort is a small carnivorous perennial from cold mountain and subarctic habitats across Eurasia, trapping insects on sticky leaves. It needs cool, moist, bright conditions and a winter dormancy period.
Pinguicula alpina, also known as the alpine butterwort, is a species of carnivorous plant native to high latitudes throughout Eurasia. It is one of the most widespread Pinguicula species, being found in mountainous regions from Iceland to the Himalayas. Native to cold climates, it is a temperate species, forming prostrate rosettes of green to red leaves and white flowers in the summer and a tight hibernaculum during a period of winter dormancy in the winter. Like all members of the genus, P. alpina uses mucilaginous glands covering the surface of its summer leaves to attract, trap, and digest arthropod prey.
Pinguicula alpina is found in high altitudes and latitudes throughout Europe and Asia, with the densest populations concentrated in the Alps and northern Scandinavia. Around the last ice age the plant was distributed throughout Asia, where it still remains today in Siberia, Mongolia, and the Himalayas. P. alpina is one of the most widely distributed members of the genus Pinguicula.
European folk medicine didn't distinguish between various butterwort species, but prescribed them for sores, swelling, sciatica, and liver disease, as well as stomach aches, chest pain and respiratory problems. Its supposed effectiveness against these ailments is attributed to the cinnamic acid found in the plants.
Pinguicula acuminata · Pinguicula agnata · Pinguicula antarctica · Pinguicula balcanica · Blueflower butterwort · Pinguicula caryophyllacea · Casabito Butterwort · Pinguicula chuquisacensis · Pinguicula conzattii · Pinguicula cyclosecta · Pinguicula elizabethiae · Pinguicula esseriana
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pinguicula alpina by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
