Meet Pinguicula: The Surprisingly Beautiful Butterwort

Carnivorous plants have a reputation for looking rather strange. Pinguicula proves otherwise.

Commonly known as butterworts, Pinguicula are small carnivorous plants with neat rosettes of succulent-looking leaves and surprisingly delicate flowers. Depending on the variety, their blooms may appear in shades of pink, violet, purple, white, and other soft colors, rising on slender stems above the foliage.

But those pretty leaves have another purpose. Their surfaces are covered with tiny glands that produce a sticky substance capable of trapping fungus gnats and other very small insects. The plant then digests its catch and absorbs nutrients from it—an ingenious adaptation that allows Pinguicula to thrive where ordinary plants might struggle.

Many of the Mexican Pinguicula grown by collectors are particularly attractive, combining compact rosettes, interesting foliage, and colorful flowers in plants small enough for a sunny windowsill, greenhouse, terrarium, or carnivorous-plant collection.

We are pleased to now offer Pinguicula at GoGardenNow.com. If you have never grown a carnivorous plant before, butterworts are a fascinating place to begin. And if you already collect them, you probably know the difficulty: one Pinguicula has an unfortunate tendency to lead to another.

Explore our current selection and discover one of the more charming curiosities of the plant kingdom.