Butterwort

Butterwort, Pinguicula, an interesting genus of Lentibulariaceae, including several British species. They are perennial marsh plants with scanty roots; rosettes of pale green, simple, radical leaves with a viscid exudation and inrolled margins; and single-flowered scapes bearing a bilabiate spurred flower. The leaves are studded with remarkable capstan-like glands, and the viscid secretion not only captures innumerable small marsh flies, which are secured by the slow inrolling of the leaves, but is also acid, and exerts a powerfully digestive action upon nitrogenous substances. In Lapland the leaves are used like rennet to curdle milk, and milk left on the leaf is not only separated into curd and whey, but is afterwards entirely absorbed with the exception of the small proportion of oil. Though the mechanism is comparatively simple, this digestive power is perhaps greater than that of any other insectivorous plant (q.v.).