| Pinguicula hemiepiphytica | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lentibulariaceae |
| Genus: | Pinguicula |
| Species: | P. hemiepiphytica |
| Binomial name | |
| Pinguicula hemiepiphytica Zamudio & Rzed. | |
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 hemiepiphytica is an 8–20 cm tall, carnivorous plant that grows on rocks or trees. [1]
There are two forms, distinguished by leaf type. In both forms, the leaves are arranged in dense whorls around the base of the stem. [2] The summer form of the plant has 4 to 12 nearly circular leaves that serve to catch small insects. [1] The leaves are covered in mucus, making the leaf surface sticky. [2] When an insect is caught, it triggers the secretion of digestive enzymes. [1] Leaf color is light green to purplish-pink. [1] [3] The winter form of the plant has far more leaves than the summer form, but the leaves are shorter and narrower. [1] All glands are absent, so this form is not able to trap or digest insects. [1] [2] The leaves are light green. [1]
During the summer months, individuals bear up to three solitary flowers. [1] Flowers are perfect, bilaterally symmetrical, have a five lobed corolla, and are purple to pink in color. [1] [4] The corolla tube extends beyond the flower's point of attachment to the stem, forming a spur. [1] [4]
Pinguicula hemiepiphytica has only been documented in the cloud forests of Sierra de Juarez, Mexico, although it is suspected to exist in neighboring areas with a similar environment. [1] Its habitat is very wet, and they typically grow with colonies of mosses. [1] The long spur of the flower is a trait that Pinguicula species pollinated by butterflies, moths, and birds have in common. [5] The species is believed to be hummingbird pollinated, given the length of the floral spur. [6] It has been found that species in this group do not offer food rewards in their floral trichomes to pollinators. [5] Like most Pinguicula , they can also self-pollinate and reproduce vegetatively. [2]
Carnivory in plants is an adaptation for nutrient acquisition in nutrient poor soils. [7] The roots mainly serve to adhere the plant to its substrate and absorb water. [2] Growing on a vertical surface exposes the plant to more sunlight, and water that runs down the sides of the trees and rocks they are growing on. [1] [2]
The term “pinguis” is Latin for “grease”, which suits this genus that uses its sticky and greasy leaves to trap prey. [8] This adaptation can be employed by plant collectors to control fungus gnat populations [9] [10]
Pinguicula hemiepiphytica is most commonly cultivated for use in the nursery trade. Mexican Pinguicula are popular for being relatively easy to grow; P. hemiepiphytica is cultivated and sometimes hybridized with other species for sale to hobbyists. [11] [12] [13] [14] Biological resource use is also associated with this species; 22% of Pinguicula species are illegally poached and traded for biological uses that are rarely medicinal or pharmaceutical [7]
In Oaxaca, Mexico where these species are native, the Zapotec use P. moranensis to treat “culture-bound syndromes'', including “mal de ojo” and “susto”. [15] [16] Until 1991, P. hemiepiphytica was considered to be a variety of P. moranensis because of their similar morphologies and range; it's possible that both species are used by the Zapotec [1] [15]
Drosera, which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surfaces. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which the plants grow. Various species, which vary greatly in size and form, are native to every continent except Antarctica.
Lentibulariaceae is a family of carnivorous plants containing three genera: Genlisea, the corkscrew plants; Pinguicula, the butterworts; and Utricularia, the bladderworts.
Genlisea is a genus of carnivorous plants also known as corkscrew plants. The 30 or so species grow in wet terrestrial to semi-aquatic environments distributed throughout Africa and Central and South America. The plants use highly modified underground leaves to attract, trap and digest minute microfauna, particularly protozoans. Although suggested a century earlier by Charles Darwin, carnivory in the genus was not proven until 1998.
Pinguicula moranensis is a perennial rosette-forming insectivorous herb in the flowering plant family Lentibulariaceae. It is native to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. 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.
Pinguicula lusitanica, commonly known as the pale butterwort, is a small butterwort that grows wild in acidic peat bog areas along coastal atlantic western Europe from western Scotland and Ireland south through western England and western France to the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco in north-western Africa.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pinguicula vulgaris, the common butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous plant in the butterwort genus of the family Lentibulariaceae.
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They still generate all of their energy from photosynthesis. They have adapted to grow in waterlogged sunny 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.
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 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.
The Benito Juárez National Park is in the Valles Centrales Region of Oaxaca, Mexico, and includes parts of the municipalities of San Felipe Tejalapam and San Andres Huayapan. The southern boundary of the park is about five kilometers north of the City of Oaxaca. The park was established in 1937 during the presidency of General Lazaro Cardenas del Rio, and is named after President Benito Juárez, who was a native of Oaxaca.
Pinguicula, commonly known as 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.
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.
Pinguicula balcanica, also known as the Balkanian butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous plant in the family Lentibulariaceae.
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 caerulea, commonly referred to as blue butterwort, blueflower butterwort, or violet butterwort, is a flowering plant species in the carnivorous butterwort (Pinguicula) genus and bladderwort family (Lentibulariaceae). It is a perennial dicot. It grows in moist sandy pineland habitat in the south-east USA. Caerulus is Latin for from the sky or sea and refers to the color of the flowers.
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