Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Common Butterwort

Pinguicula vulgaris

L.

Common Butterwort

G5Secure Found in 61 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
LowThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.153631
Element CodePDLNT01090
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderScrophulariales
FamilyLentibulariaceae
GenusPinguicula
Synonyms
Pinguicula vulgaris ssp. vulgaris
Other Common Names
common butterwort (EN) Grassette vulgaire (FR)
Concept Reference
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Taxonomic Comments
This record is for a narrow treatment of Pinguicula vulgaris, excluding P. macroceras (of the western U.S. and Canada) as a distinct species, as recognized in Kartesz (1994, 1999) and by Rice (2012). Scoggan (1978) recognizes a broader treatment, including P. macroceras. Douglas et al. (1999) and Brouillet et al. (2025) includes P. macroceras as a subspecies of P. vulgaris.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-05-13
Change Date1984-06-18
Edition Date2005-02-10
Edition AuthorsWeldy, Troy W.
Threat ImpactLow
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Range Extent Comments
In North America, this circumboreal species ranges from Labrador to Alaska, south to northern New England, New York, Michigan, Minnesota, and Oregon.
Ecology & Habitat

Description

Butterwort is a small insectivorous plant. It has a small basal rosette of bright green to yellow-green, narrow tongue-shaped leaves that are covered with sticky glands that give it a shiny, waxy appearance. The margins of the leaves curl inward as insects are trapped and digested. One to nine flower stalks grow up to 6 inches high from the basal rosette and are topped by a single, tubular, violet flower. The flower has 5 petals in two lips and they are white and hairy at the base. The bottom of the flower ends in a long spur. In the winter the leaves die back to form a bulblike winter bud or hibernacula that has smaller daughter buds that ring the main winter bud. These then germinate in the spring to grow more plants.
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
ManitobaS4Yes
QuebecS4Yes
Island of NewfoundlandS5Yes
New BrunswickS2Yes
AlbertaS4Yes
OntarioS5Yes
Yukon TerritoryS4Yes
NunavutS4Yes
Northwest TerritoriesS4Yes
Nova ScotiaS1Yes
SaskatchewanS3Yes
British ColumbiaS4Yes
LabradorS4Yes
United StatesNNR
ProvinceRankNative
MichiganS3Yes
WashingtonSNRYes
MinnesotaS3Yes
WisconsinS1Yes
New HampshireS1Yes
New YorkS1Yes
AlaskaSNRYes
VermontS1Yes
MaineS1Yes
Plant Characteristics
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (61)
Alaska (52)
AreaForestAcres
Bering LakeChugach National Forest965,076
Boston BarChugach National Forest53,617
Brabazon AdditionTongass National Forest498,819
CalderTongass National Forest9,857
ChichagofTongass National Forest555,858
Chilkat-West Lynn CanalTongass National Forest199,772
Chugach-12Chugach National Forest8,116
Chugach-13Chugach National Forest13,337
Chugach-17Chugach National Forest19,954
ClevelandTongass National Forest189,447
College FiordChugach National Forest1,130,818
Copper River WetlandsChugach National Forest85,972
Douglas IslandTongass National Forest28,065
East MitkofTongass National Forest8,795
EudoraTongass National Forest195,022
Fidalgo-GravinaChugach National Forest257,968
Freshwater BayTongass National Forest44,933
Game CreekTongass National Forest54,469
GravinaTongass National Forest37,381
Hoonah SoundTongass National Forest79,764
Johnson PassChugach National Forest152,508
Juneau UrbanTongass National Forest101,581
Juneau-Skagway IcefieldTongass National Forest1,187,268
KartaTongass National Forest52,117
KekuTongass National Forest10,869
Kenai MountainsChugach National Forest306,600
KosciuskoTongass National Forest64,134
LindenbergTongass National Forest25,855
MadanTongass National Forest68,553
ManzanitaTongass National Forest8,401
MontagueChugach National Forest204,875
MosmanTongass National Forest53,492
Nellie JuanChugach National Forest713,697
North BaranofTongass National Forest314,089
North KruzofTongass National Forest33,146
North RevillaTongass National Forest215,430
North WrangellTongass National Forest8,091
Port AlexanderTongass National Forest120,681
Prince William Sound Is.Chugach National Forest118,698
RedoubtTongass National Forest68,347
ResurrectionChugach National Forest224,615
RevillaTongass National Forest29,298
RhineTongass National Forest23,010
Roaded DonutChugach National Forest968
SarkarTongass National Forest51,908
Sheridan GlacierChugach National Forest224,683
Sitka UrbanTongass National Forest112,003
South KruzofTongass National Forest55,193
Taku-SnettishamTongass National Forest664,928
Twenty MileChugach National Forest198,775
Upper SitukTongass National Forest16,789
Yakutat ForelandsTongass National Forest323,648
Minnesota (1)
AreaForestAcres
Cabin CreekSuperior National Forest6,071
New Hampshire (1)
AreaForestAcres
Pemigewasset ExtWhite Mountain National Forest15,840
Washington (7)
AreaForestAcres
Boulder RiverMt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest32,563
Glacier Peak IMt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest15,175
Glacier Peak JMt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest26,482
Glacier Peak KMt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest47,269
Glacier Peak LMt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest14,084
Mt. Baker NorthMt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest16,873
SawtoothOkanogan National Forest122,194
References (5)
  1. Brouillet, L., F. Coursol, S. Meades, M. Favreau, and M. Anions. 2025. VASCAN, the Database of Vascular Plants of Canada. Online. Available: http://data.canadensys.net/vascan/ (Accessed 2025).
  2. Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Pojar, editors. 1999. Illustrated Flora of British Columbia. Volume 3. Dicotyledons (Diapensiaceae through Onagraceae). British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, and British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Victoria.
  3. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  4. Kartesz, J.T. 1999. A synonymized checklist and atlas with biological attributes for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. First edition. In: Kartesz, J.T., and C.A. Meacham. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C.
  5. Scoggan, H.J. 1978-1979. The flora of Canada: Parts 1-4. National Museums Canada, Ottawa. 1711 pp.