Day 256: Every time my botany partners refer to "Butterwort," I experience a moment of confusion. Butterwort? Do I know that plant? Oh, Pinguicula! Why, when the Latin option is such a delightful word, would anyone call this delicate insectivore by an English name? The suffix "-wort" means "plant." Okay, that's easy. Perhaps "Butter" refers to the yellowish foliage and, extending that logic with no particular validation, the fact that flies stick to it when they land on it. Anyone who's ever been to a picnic can see the sense in that. In fact, the Latin nomenclature derives from "pinguis," meaning "fat," and indeed the leaves have an oily sheen to them due to the secretions produced by specialized glands. One secretion lures and ensnares insects and, as the insect struggles to free itself, another type of gland is stimulated to produce digestive enzymes. The insects' soft tissue is dissolved and absorbed into the leaves, leaving behind their hard exoskeletons, like those visible in this photo. Like many other "carnivorous" plants, Pinguicula likes moist areas where insect life is abundant and temperatures stay on the cool side even during heat waves.
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