Day 236: Another score for "Team Biota" and a life-list species for me, a thriving colony of Butterwort was growing on a rock wall over which a steady drip of water was falling. Ten feet above it, we spotted another solitary plant, its yellow leaves and single blue flower the only other evidence of the species at the site. If not considered rare in the catalogue of Mount Rainier flora, Pinguicula vulgaris has been classified as "review - group 1" per "The Endangered, Threatened and Sensitive Vascular Plants of Washington" (2014) and is reported to occur in only a few places in the Park. This location was not one of the ones on record for the species.
Pinguicula is an insectivore. Tiny, specialized glands on the upper surfaces of its leaves exude a sticky/slimy substance which traps insects. The hapless mosquito or gnat which becomes ensnared in the goo is then digested by enzymes contained in another type of gland. Husks of former meals are often found on the leaves of Butterwort.
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