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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE BLADDERWORT FAMILY | |||||||||
| The bladderworts are common in wetlands and moist forests. These plants are annual or perennial herbs that capture insects with sticky glands on the leaves. The insects are digested by the plant in order to obtain nutrients, like nitrogen, which are not readily available in their environment. The leaves can be clustered in a basal rosette or alternate on the stem. The flowers are either solitary or in an unbranched cluster. There are four or five sepals fused together into two lips and five petals, also fused into two lips. The petals have a spur at the base. There are two fertile stamens and occasionally two non-functional stamens in each flower. The fruit is a capsule. | |||||||||
| HAIRY BUTTERWORT | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Pinguicula villosa | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Hairy butterwort is less than 10 cm tall and looks a little bit like a match-stick. The stem is solitary and without leaves. As the name implies, the stem is hairy. The leaves are all in a basal rosette and have glandular hairs on the upper surface used to catch insects. The flowers are solitary at the top of the stem. The sepals are glandular-hairy. The petals, which are less than 10 cm long, are spurred and lavender in colour. The fruit type is a capsule. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Hairy butterwort grows on sphagnum hummocks in treed bogs or muskegs. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species is found in northern Saskatchewan in the Churchill River Upland, Selwyn Lake Upland, and Tazin Lake Upland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Hairy butterwort is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan. Its occurrence is somewhat regionally restricted but it extends to a limited extent into adjacent general regions of the province. Most local populations are small. No threats are know or anticipated. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY HAIRY BUTTERWORT | |||||||||
| * Does the stem look like a match stick? * Are the plants less than 10 cm tall? * Do the lavender flowers have a spur? * Did you find it in northern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found hairy butterwort! | |||||||||
