Pinguicula
(a diminutive from pinguis, fat; referring to the greasy texture of the plants). Butter-wort. ORD. Lentibularieae. A genus of greenhouse or hardy, terrestrial herbs, broadly dispersed (in boggy places) over the extra-tropical regions of the Northern hemisphere, a few being found in the Andes of America, extending as far as the Antarctic regions. Upwards of thirty species have been described, but probably not more than twenty are really distinct. Flowers terminal; calyx four or five-parted or bilabiate; corolla purple, violet, or yellow, bilabiate, the lobes all spreading, entire or emarginate; scape erect, one-flowered, leafless, ebracteate. Leaves radical, rosulate, entire, often greasy to the touch. The hardy species thrive in a marshy, boggy soil, and are propagated by seeds, by leaf cuttings, or by division. The greenhouse species thrive in well-drained pots of peat and sphagnum or in fibrous peat and pieces of broken pots, and may be increased by the same means. The under-mentioned species are the best for gardening purposes. They are all perennials.
P. alpina (alpine). fl., corolla white; lips unequal; throat yellow, hairy; spur very short, conical. May and June. l. elliptic, slightly pilose above. h. 3in. Arctic Europe (Scotland), &c. (Sy. En. B. 1123.)
P. Bakeriana (Baker's). A synonym of P. caudata.
P. caudata (tailed).* fl. of a beautiful, rich, deep carmine, on long scapes, terminal. Autumn, l., when young, in dense rosettes, fleshy, long, narrow, with slightly incurved tips; in older plants few, large, obovate, obtuse, with a thick, obscure midrib, dull pale green, with dirty-purplish margins. Mexico, 1881. A lovely greenhouse plant. (B. M. 6624; Gn., August, 1881.) SYNS. P. Bakeriana (G. C. n. s., xv. 541), P. flos-mulionis (B. H. 1872, 371).
P. flos-mulionis (muleteer's-flower). A synonym of P. caudata.
P. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl. violet-blue, on radical scapes; corolla 1in. or more long, and nearly as much in width, with a broad, open mouth. Summer. l. in rosettes, light green, fleshy, oval or oblong, obtuse. South-west Ireland. A handsome bog plant. (G. C. n. s., iv. 27; Sy. En. B. 1122.)
P. hirtiflora (hairy-flowered). This much resembles P. vulgaris, but the flowers are paler, with a yellowish throat, sparsely glandular or glabrous, the peduncles and calyx are hairy, and the slender spur is straight or incurved. Mountains of Italy and Greece, 1885. Hardy. (B. M. 6785.)
P. lusitanica (Portuguese). fl., corolla lilac, with a yellow throat, 1/3 in. long; lips nearly equal, the lower pouched from without; scapes very slender. June to October. l. 1/3in. to 2/3in. long, oblong, shortly petiolate, thin, succulent, obtuse, with incurved margins. h. 6in. Europe (Britain). (Sy. En. B. 1124.)
P. lutea (yellow). fl., corolla yellow and golden, nearly 1in. long, campanulate, somewhat five-fid, the lobes scarcely distinct, sinuated or cut. June. l. obovate-elliptic, somewhat glabrous, 1in. long, slightly obtuse. h. 3in. North America, 1815. Half-hardy. (B. R. 126.) The form edentula has all the corolla lobes obcordate, and not laciniated. (H. E. F. 16, under name of P. edentula.) P. orchidoides (Orchis-like). fl., corolla violet-purple, nearly 1 1/4 in. long, somewhat five-parted, with a very short, constricted tube, and oblong-obovate, sub-equal lobes. October. l. spathulate-rotundate, 1 1/4in. to 1 1/2in. long, 1in. broad, thick, pilose above. h. 3in. to 4in. Mexico, 1845. Greenhouse. (B. M. 4231.) This is probably simply a form or condition of P. caudata.
P. vallisneriaefolia (Vallisneria-leaved). fl. soft purple or lilac-purple, with conspicuous, white or pale centres, large. Summer. l. pale yellowish-green, linear, in dense tufts, and undulated at the margins. Mountains of Spain. Half-hardy. (Gn., April, 1878.)
P. vulgaris (common). Bog Violet; Butter-root. fl. violet; corolla with the lower lip much longer and broader than the upper; segments broad or obtuse; scapes several, 4in. to 6in. long, purplish. May to July. l. 1in. to 3in. long, appressed to the ground, oblong, obtuse, succulent, with incurved margins; petioles broad, very short. Europe (Britain), &c.(Sy. En. B. 1121.)