Pinguicula longifolia

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Pinguicula longifolia
Pinguicula longifolia.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lentibulariaceae
Genus: Pinguicula
Species:
P. longifolia
Binomial name
Pinguicula longifolia
Ram. ex DC. (1805)

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.” [1] 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.

The endemicity of this subspecies in the Pyrenees is a problem as habitat destruction could lead to reduced space to propagate on. P. l. subsp. longifolia are also threatened by carnivorous plant enthusiasts who collect rare specimens. The genus Pinguicula has been known to have many human uses, as they produce a strong bactericide, which prevents captured insects from rotting while digestion occurs. This beneficial property has been known by Europeans for centuries, as application of the bactericide to wounds of cattle encourages healing. Furthermore, the leaves have been used to curdle goat’s milk into Filmjölk, a Swedish fermented milk product.

Related Research Articles

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<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>Byblis</i> (plant) Genus of carnivorous plants

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<i>Drosera rotundifolia</i> Species of flowering plant in the sundew family Droseraceae

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<i>Pinguicula moranensis</i> Perennial insectivorous herb in the family Lentibulariaceae

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<i>Drosera anglica</i> Species of carnivorous flowering plant in the family Droseraceae

Drosera anglica, commonly known as the English sundew or great sundew, is a carnivorous flowering plant species belonging to the sundew family Droseraceae. It is a temperate species with a circumboreal range, although it does occur as far south as Japan, southern Europe, and the island of Kauai in Hawaii, where it grows as a tropical sundew. It is thought to originate from an amphidiploid hybrid of D. rotundifolia and D. linearis, meaning that a sterile hybrid between these two species doubled its chromosomes to produce fertile progeny which stabilized into the current D. anglica.

<i>Drosera intermedia</i> Species of carnivorous flowering plant in the family Droseraceae

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

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

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

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

Pinguicula acuminata is an insectivorous plant of the genus Pinguicula endemic to the Mexican state of Hidalgo, a member of the section Heterophyllum. It is notable for producing flowers while the winter rosette is buried beneath the soil surface. Described in 1839, it was not rediscovered until 150 years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hibernaculum (botany)</span>

Hibernaculum is the term often applied to a winter bud of certain aquatic plants, such as the bladderworts (Utricularia). The buds are heavier than water, and, being developed at the approach of cold weather, they become detached, sink to the bottom of the pond, and thus survive the winter. In the spring, they enlarge, developing air spaces, rise to the surface, and reproduce their species.

<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.

<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, 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.

<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 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 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.

References

  1. Heslop-Harrison, Y.; Knox, R.B. (1971). "A cytochemical study of the leaf-gland enzymes of insectivorous plants of the genus Pinguicula". Planta. 96 (3): 1432–2048. Bibcode:1971Plant..96..183H. doi:10.1007/BF00387439. PMID   24493118.