North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Pinguicula caerulea

Pinguicula caerulea Walter

blue butterwort, blueflower butterwort

Image ID: 16220
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: PICA7
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pinguicula caerulea
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2017-12-26

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: PINGU
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Pinguicula
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Butterwort
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 46-80 species, herbs, of America, Mediterranean Europe, and circumboreal America and Eurasia.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Schnell (2002b)=Z; Godfrey & Stripling (1961); Wood & Godfrey (1957); Schnell (1980a); Fischer et al. in Kadereit (2004). Key based in part on GW.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: LENTIB
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Lentibulariaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Richard 1808
FAMILY COMMON: Bladderwort Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of 3 genera and about 270-320 species, insectivorous herbs, cosmopolitan.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Fischer et al. in Kadereit (2004).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Scapose, carnivorous perennial found in pine savannas and wet pine flatwoods, mostly in the outer Coastal Plain, rarely extending inland to seepages and sandhill-pocosin ecotones in the fall-line Sandhills of NC and SC.
STEMS: Stem a single, hairy flowering scape arising from the basal rosette of leaves.
LEAVES: Leaves basal, in a rosette about 5 in. wide, oval with curled up margins, fleshy, yellowish-green and oily feeling.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers held singly at top of scape, mostly at a right-angle to scape; pale blue to violet veined with darker violet; about 1 in. wide; bilaterally symmetric and tubular, with 5 spreading, notched corolla lobes, a hairy lump on inside bottom of the throat, and a backward-pointing spur.
FRUITS:
COMMENTS: Insects are trapped on the upper surface of leaves, which secrete a musty-smelling mucilage and digestive fluids.
HEIGHT: to 8 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Basal
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Bilateral (Zygomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Apr-May

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
			x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Blue to blue-violet

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
		x				x	x	x	x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bogs/pocosins, Pine savannas, Sandhills
NATIVE RANGE: NC, SC, GA & FL

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE:
LIGHT EXPOSURE:
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
326	HORT	2010-05-15	Poythress	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
321	2011-0188	2011-08-16	326	View
1853	1986-1634			View
2382	1986-2219			View
8818	2007-0091	2007-04-23		View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
742	321	125	Poythress	2011-08-16	View
743	321	128	Poythress	2011-08-16	View
744	321	127	Poythress	2011-08-16	View
745	321	64	Liloia	2013-06-18	View
2945	1853	64	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
4074	2382	151	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
12078	8818	125	Liloia	2007-04-19	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: PICA7
USDA Common Name: Blueflower Butterwort
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (FL, GA, NC, SC)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	OBL				OBL

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

2018 Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species of North Carolina

NHP ID	S RANK	ROUNDED S RANK	G RANK	ROUNDED G RANK	STATE STATUS	FEDERAL STATUS
21103	S3	S3	G4	G4	W6

This information is derived from the 2018 North Carolina Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species.

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pinguicula caerulea
COMMON NAME: Blue Butterwort
SYNONYMY: [= GW, K, RAB, S, WH3, Z; Pinguicula elatior Michaux]
PHENOLOGY: Apr-May.
HABITAT: Pine savannas and wet pine flatwoods, mostly in the outer Coastal Plain, rarely extending inland to seepages and sandhill-pocosin ecotones in the fall-line Sandhills of NC and SC.
COMMENTS: Se. NC (Carteret and Johnston counties) south to s. peninsular FL, west to e. Panhandle FL. Schnell (1980a) discusses populations with white corollas.
RANGE MAP: Pinguicula caerulea.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Lentibulariaceae Richard 1808 (Bladderwort Family)
SUMMARY: A family of 3 genera and about 270-320 species, insectivorous herbs, cosmopolitan.
REFERENCE: Fischer et al. in Kadereit (2004).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Pinguicula L. (Butterwort)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 46-80 species, herbs, of America, Mediterranean Europe, and circumboreal America and Eurasia.
REFERENCE: Schnell (2002b)=Z; Godfrey & Stripling (1961); Wood & Godfrey (1957); Schnell (1980a); Fischer et al. in Kadereit (2004). Key based in part on GW.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Pinguicula caerulea in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Pinguicula caerulea in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Pinguicula caerulea in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Pinguicula caerulea in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Pinguicula caerulea in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Pinguicula caerulea

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 16220 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 21717 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 21718 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)