Common butterwort
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Butterwort ( Pinguicula vulgaris ) |
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The common butterwort , also common butterwort , blue butterwort or kiwifruit butterwort ( Pinguicula vulgaris ) is a carnivorous plant from the genus of the butterwort ( Pinguicula ), in the section Pinguicula .
description
Butterwort is a perennial herbaceous plant . According to the carnivorous way of life, the root system is very weak, it consists of numerous, white and short, fine hair roots. They are only 1–3 cm long, die off when winter buds form and are replaced by new ones every year.
Five to eleven fleshy, yellowish to light green, elongated-elliptical leaves form a rosette up to 16 cm in diameter, lying flat on the ground . On the surface, the leaves are covered with sticky secretions, with which they catch small insects (e.g. sciarid gnats , ants ), but also pollen and, as soon as prey is obtained, digest them with enzymes .
From May to August the butterwort blooms on one to six up to 15 cm high peduncles growing from the center of the rosette, pink-violet to white with a white throat spot in single, zygomorphic, 10 to 13 mm long, spurred flowers. The egg-shaped fruit capsules that form bear plenty of fine, black seeds.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 64.
distribution
The plant is found in almost all European countries, in Greenland, Russia, the USA and Canada. Besides the Alpine butterwort ( Pinguicula alpina ), it is the only butterwort that also occurs in Germany.
Habitats
The common butterwort appreciates wet, acidic soils, but is tolerant of lime. It occurs in open sewerage corridors or spring and low moor communities. In Central Europe it is part of Tofieldietalia and moss-rich Montio-Cardaminetea societies.
In the Allgäu Alps, the Hochalpsee in Vorarlberg rises up to 1965 m above sea level.
ecology
After catching prey, numerous small glands that sit tightly on the leaf surface secrete digestive secretions (enzymes that break down proteins , but also enzymes that break down starch and nucleic acids ) and later absorb the soluble products. Since small holes are left out in the cuticle , which is supposed to protect the leaf from drying out, the plants are dependent on humid locations. There are around 40,000 glands per leaf. During the digestive process, the leaves gradually curl up from the edge, especially in the area of the prey. As a result, the animals come into contact with even more glands and the digestive products are better retained on the leaf. Blown pollen is also retained and digested. Especially with this species, over 50% of the protein ingested can come from pollen.
The flowers are small, standing by over-curvature of the peduncle on the head, vorweibliche "Revenge Flowers". The long flower stalks are designed to prevent the capture of possible pollinators . The pollination is usually by bees , but also self-pollination is successful. In the past, the flowers were mainly interpreted as "fly-pin traps" because the backward-facing locking hairs of the inflorescence forced visitors, especially flies , to push themselves up, pressing against the stigma and the anthers. Flies that are too big get stuck and starve to death. Instead of nectar there are mucous hairs in the spur, which are only there to deceive the visitors. The plant only begins to bloom after several years.
The fruits are multi-seeded capsules that spring up in two flaps, open only when it is dry and stand on a dry stem. They act as wind and animal spreaders. The tiny seeds are granular flyers and have no nutrient tissue ; they are light germs and due to their net-like surface structure they are buoyant. The fruit ripeness extends from June / July to September.
The plant is a hemicryptophyte , overwintering takes place in a starch-storing, onion-like winter bud lying on the ground, the so-called hibernacle , which sprouts again in spring. A vegetative propagation takes place through approx. 3 mm large bulbs, which form in the leaf axils during or after the flowering period; in addition, winter buds can be moved through snow or animals.
Hazard and protection
The common butterwort is not directly endangered due to its geographically wide distribution, but is generally on the decline in Europe. In Germany it is considered endangered and is protected by the Federal Species Protection Ordinance. In Switzerland it is partly protected at cantonal level, but is largely considered safe.
Systematics
Since the description of the common butterwort, subspecies, varieties and forms have repeatedly been distinguished, but none of these taxa is currently recognized.
Currently, however, the separation of two species is being discussed: on the one hand, that of a Czech species Pinguicula bohemica , which has a different number of chromosomes, namely 2n = 32 as opposed to 2n = 64 in the butterwort. On the other hand, the species status of Pinguicula gypsophila is discussed again, a plant endemic to the southern Harz that grows exclusively on gypsum.
According to P. Uotila (2013) the following subspecies can be distinguished:
- Pinguicula vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris
- Pinguicula vulgaris subsp. angealonei Peruzzi & F. Conti : It occurs in Italy.
- Pinguicula vulgaris subsp. ernica Peruzzi & F. Conti : It occurs in Italy.
- Pinguicula vulgaris subsp. vestina F. Conti & Peruzzi : It occurs in Italy.
use
The common butterwort was previously used as a medicinal plant. Samuel Hahnemann , the founder of homeopathy, reports on its use against cracked skin, for pain relief, for tuberculosis and against broken bones , but also notes a laxative effect.
Folk medicine made no further distinction between the different types of fatty herbs, but used them against wounds, tumors, sciatica, liver ailments and stomach, breast and lung diseases. Their use against the diseases mentioned is attributed to the cinnamic acid contained in the plant . Use is unusual today.
As Carl von Linné reported in his Flora Lapponica , butterwort is used in northern Scandinavia for the production of certain sour milk products such as Swedish milk . The vessels in which the Swedish milk is prepared are rubbed with butterwort.
literature
- S. Jost Casper : Monograph of the genus Pinguicula L. (= Bibliotheca Botanica. H. 127/128, ISSN 0067-7892 ). Swiss beard, Stuttgart 1966.
- Maria Teresa della Beffa: Alpine flowers. A comprehensive guide to finding, determining and recognizing. Kaiser, Klagenfurt 1999, ISBN 3-7043-2181-8 .
- Wilhelm Barthlott , Stefan Porembski, Rüdiger Seine, Inge Theisen: Carnivores. Biology and culture of carnivorous plants. Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-4144-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait. 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .
- ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp. 868 .
- ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 2, IHW, Eching 2004, ISBN 3-930167-61-1 , p. 489.
- ↑ a b c d P. Uotila, 2013: Lentibulariaceae . Datasheet Pinguicula vulgaris In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.
- ↑ Samuel Hahnemann : Kiwitzfettkraut. In: Samuel Hahnemann: Apothekerlexikon. Part 1, Section 2: F to K. Crusius, Leipzig 1793, pp. 468-469 .
- ↑ Swedish milk and butterwort.
Web links
- Information at FloraWeb
- Common butterwort . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
- Profile and distribution map for Bavaria . In: Botanical Information Hub of Bavaria .
- Pinguicula vulgaris L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- Thomas Meyer: Fettkraut data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )