Pinguicula balcanica

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Pinguicula balcanica
Pinguicula balcanica flower.JPG
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lentibulariaceae
Genus: Pinguicula
Species:
P. balcanica
Binomial name
Pinguicula balcanica
Casper

Pinguicula balcanica, also known as the Balkanian butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous plant in the family Lentibulariaceae. [1] [2]

Contents

Distribution

The plant is endemic to the Balkans. It is found in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia and the North of Montenegro (Sandžak region).

It grows in the subalpine parts of mountains at an altitude of 900–2,500 metres (3,000–8,200 ft) above sea level. It, like most carnivorous plants, grows in wet, nutrient poor, acidic environments and can often be found in high altitude sphagnum bogs, near streams, and wet rocky places in mountains.

Description

It flowers in spring, from May to August, and produces seed from July to September. It survives winter in a hibernaculum.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lentibulariaceae</span> Family of carnivorous plants

Lentibulariaceae is a family of carnivorous plants containing three genera: Genlisea, the corkscrew plants; Pinguicula, the butterworts; and Utricularia, the bladderworts.

<i>Pinguicula moranensis</i> Perennial insectivorous herb in the family Lentibulariaceae native to Mexico and Guatemala

Pinguicula moranensis 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 10 centimeters (4 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. 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 pink, purple, or violet flowers appear twice a year on upright stalks up to 25 centimeters long.

<i>Pinguicula grandiflora</i> Species of plant

Pinguicula grandiflora, commonly known as the large-flowered butterwort, is a temperate insectivorous plant in the Lentibulariaceae family. One distinguishing feature of the species is its flower, which is much larger than the average for the genus.

<i>Pinguicula alpina</i> Species of plant

Pinguicula alpina, also known as the alpine butterwort, is a species of carnivorous plant native to high latitudes and altitudes 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.

<i>Pinguicula primuliflora</i> Species of plant

Pinguicula primuliflora, commonly known as the southern butterwort or primrose butterwort, is a species of carnivorous plant belonging to the genus Pinguicula. It is native to the southeastern United States. The typical variety forms a white flower in blooming. Like other butterworts, it has sticky adhesive leaves which attract, capture and digest arthropod prey in order to supply the plant with nutrients such as nitrogen not found in the nutrient poor, acidic soil that it grows in. Its name derives from the fact it is usually the first one to flower in the spring.

<i>Pinguicula gigantea</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Pinguicula gigantea is a tropical species of carnivorous plant in the family Lentibulariaceae. Its native range is within Mexico. P. gigantea's flower is usually a purple colour with the occasional light blue also seen. P. gigantea was once classified as Pinguicula ayautla.

<i>Pinguicula conzattii</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Pinguicula conzattii is an insectivorous plant of the genus Pinguicula native to the Mexican state of Oaxaca, a member of the section Heterophyllum. Closely related to Pinguicula mirandae, it is notable for being pubescent on both sides of its winter leaves. It is named in honour of Cassiano Conzatti, an Italian-born botanist who spent most of his life in Mexico.

<i>Pinguicula vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant in the bladderwort family Lentibulariaceae

Pinguicula vulgaris, the common butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous plant in the bladderwort family, Lentibulariaceae.

<i>Pinguicula longifolia</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Pinguicula longifolia, commonly known as the long-leaved butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous subalpine plant of the Central Pyrenees, found on both sides of the border. It catches its prey by using its modified leaves that lie on the ground and have “densely covered stalked glands that bear a droplet of sticky mucilage on its top.” The need to capture arthropods is driven by the lack of nutrients present in the soil. P. l. subsp. longifolia obtain their nutrition primarily from flying insects, mainly diptera, which replenished the carnivorous plant with nitrogen. P. l. subsp. longifolia grows in wet shady areas and on vertical or overhanging limestone walls. It has been found at altitudes between 700 – 1900 meters. In the spring, the winter buds open and the first carnivorous leaves present themselves. These leaves are then followed by the flowers in early summer. Throughout summer the leaves can grow up to 14 cm in length and have glands present on both sides of the leaves, which is highly characteristic of P. l. subsp. longifolia. More carnivorous leaves arise throughout summer, and when the conditions become unfavourable, around autumn, a protective winter casing composed of scale like leaves is produced, in the centre of the rosette, called the hibernacula, also known as the plant bud. The leaves halt production and the old leaves wither and decay; P. l. subsp. longifolia is now ready for the winter dormancy. There must be optimal growth during the summer for P. l. subsp. longifolia, otherwise they produce weakened hibernacula which rot very easily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnivorous plant</span> Plants that consume animals

Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants still generate some of their energy from photosynthesis. Carnivorous plants have adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic bogs. They can be found on all continents except Antarctica, as well as many Pacific islands. In 1875 Charles Darwin published Insectivorous Plants, the first treatise to recognize the significance of carnivory in plants, describing years of painstaking research.

<i>Utricularia babui</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Utricularia babui is a perennial carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. It is native to India and had only been collected from the Kolhapur district at the time of its description in 2005. U. babui grows as a terrestrial plant in and near small streams in open forests at altitudes from 700 m (2,297 ft) to 900 m (2,953 ft). Specimens of U. babui were previously mistaken for U. graminifolia. It was originally described and published by Shrirang Ramchandra Yadav, M. M. Sardesai, and S. P. Gaikwad in 2005.

<i>Pinguicula orchidioides</i> Species of carnivorous plant

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.

<i>Pinguicula elizabethiae</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Pinguicula elizabethiae is a perennial rosette-forming insectivorous herb native to the Mexican states of Querétaro and Hidalgo. A species of butterwort, it forms summer rosettes of flat, succulent leaves up to 5 centimeters (4 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. 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 October on upright stalks up to 75 millimeters long.

<i>Pinguicula</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae

Pinguicula, commonly known as the butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition they obtain from the environment. Of the roughly 80 currently known species, 13 are native to Europe, 9 to North America, and some to northern Asia. The largest number of species is in South and Central America.

<i>Pinguicula lutea</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Pinguicula lutea, commonly known as the yellow butterwort, is a species of warm-temperate carnivorous plant in the family Lentibulariaceae. It grows in savannas and sandy bog areas of the Southeastern United States.

<i>Pinguicula filifolia</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Pinguicula filifolia, is a carnivorous species of plant found predominantly in western Cuba and some of the neighboring regions. It was discovered by Charles Wright in 1866. It is a tropical plant that uses sticky secretions on its leaves to catch small insects, pollen, and other plant debris to help supplement its own nutrition. It thrives in swamp like white sand savannahs with high temperatures and humidity.

<i>Pinguicula macroceras</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Pinguicula macroceras, the California butterwort or horned butterwort, is a species of perennial carnivorous herb that is native to the North American Pacific coast, as well as other select distributions in Canada, Russia, Japan, and the United States.[3] [7] Common names include California butterwort, horned butterwort and butterwort. Pinguicula macroceras belongs to the genus Pinguicula and the family Lentibulariaceae.

Pinguicula hemiepiphytica is a tropical carnivorous plant species native to the cloud forests of Oaxaca, Mexico. It was first identified in 1991 and is one of the few epiphytic species in the genus.

Pinguicula rotundiflora is a species of carnivorous plant in the butterwort genus Pinguicula, family Lentibulariaceae, native to northeastern Mexico. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

References

  1. "Pinguicula balcanica Casper | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  2. "Pinguicula balcanica Casper subsp. pontica Casper [family LENTIBULARIACEAE] on JSTOR". plants.jstor.org. Retrieved 2023-03-16.