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Pinguicula orchidioides is a perennial rosette-forming insectivorous herb native to Mexico and Guatemala. A species of butterwort, it forms summer rosettes of flat, succulent leaves up to 5 centimeters (2 in) long, which are covered in mucilaginous (sticky) glands that attract, trap, and digest arthropod prey. Nutrients derived from the prey are used to supplement the nutrient-poor substrate that the plant grows in. Uniquely among Pinguicula species from the Americas, p. orchidioides produces gemma-like basal buds which elongate into stolons and serve as a means of asexual reproduction. In the winter the plant forms a non-carnivorous rosette of small, fleshy leaves that conserves energy while food and moisture supplies are low. Single purple flowers appear between July and September on upright stalks up to 22 centimeters long.
Pinguicula orchidioides is currently known from only a handful of sites, most of them in the state of Oaxaca, though a few locations are also known from the state of Guerrero and the Guatemalan department of Sololá. The lack of records from Chiapas and other intermediary zones is likely the result of sampling bias. Here it grows in mountainous regions between 2000 and 2700 (3000) meters (6500–8850 ft) in altitude.
Pinguicula acuminata · Pinguicula agnata · Alpine Butterwort · Pinguicula antarctica · Pinguicula balcanica · Blueflower butterwort · Pinguicula caryophyllacea · Casabito Butterwort · Pinguicula chuquisacensis · Pinguicula conzattii · Pinguicula cyclosecta · Pinguicula elizabethiae
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pinguicula orchidioides by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
