More Temperate and Arctic Pinguicula
Affixed hibernacula
Subgen. Temnoceras sect. Micranthes
P. algida	Russia
P. alpina	Spain, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spratly Is., Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, India, Nepal, China
P. ramosa	Japan
P. variegata	Russia
Subgen. Temnoceras sect. Nana
P. villosa1	USA, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, China, North Korea
Loose hibernacula
Subgen. Pinguicula sect. Pinguicula
P. balcanica	Bosnia/Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria
P. corsica	Corsica (France)
P. fiorii	France, Italy
P. grandiflora	Ireland, Morocco?, Spain, France, Switzerland
P. leptoceras	Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France
P. longifolia	Spain, France
P. macroceras	Japan, Russia, w USA, w Canada
P. mundi	Spain
P. nevadensis	Spain
P. poldinii	Italy
P. vallisneriifolia	Spain
P. vulgaris	Canada, USA, Iceland, Foroyar, Ireland, United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Spratly Is., Croatia, Morocco
1Possibly with loose hibernacula.

Q: Temperate and Arctic species Pinguicula


Pinguicula fiorii


Pinguicula grandiflora


Pinguicula leptoceras


Pinguicula longifolia


Pinguicula macroceras

A: These are all plants of cold climates that survive the cold winters by making tight little buds called hibernacula. These tight buds are usually loosely attached to the ground, and detach readily. Once detached, they float with the spring melt waters, so the plant can use it as a dispersal mechanism. A smaller number of species have hibernacula that are tightly attached to the soil surface.

Some of these species have subspecies described for them. These are mentioned below, and also on the big Pinguicula check list that is coming up in a few pages.

A few records of likely natural hybrids have been observed for these plants. These include Pinguicula grandiflora × vulgaris, Most of the Pinguicula species on this page are somewhat challenging to grow, as they have winter dormancy requirements which must be respected. Furthermore, their flowers are for the most part relatively small and not amazingly showy. Still, I think their flowers have a healthy dose of beauty dust, and I like these plants a great deal.

I have discussed Pinguicula macroceras, Pinguicula villosa, and Pinguicula vulgaris on the previous web page, but comments on some of the other species follow.

Pinguicula balcanica--Two additional subspecies have been described by Casper for this plant: P. b. subsp. pontica and P. b. subsp. tenuilaciniata.

Pinguicula grandiflora--This species is one of the easier to maintain in cultivation, and has large, colorful flowers. Casper described an additional subspecies (P. g. subsp. rosea) which has light pink flowers and some other minor character differences.

Pinguicula longifolia--This is a plant which is a source of great arguments. One common perspective is that it should be considered to have four subspecies: P. l. subsp. longifolia, P. l. subsp. caussensis, P. l. subsp. dertosensis, and P. l. subsp. reichenbachiana. However, I have taken the route of using the name P. fiorii for the latter species.

Pinguicula ramosa--This small Japanese species is remarkable in having forked inflorescences. This occasionally occurs in other species, but never regularly.

Pinguicula vallisneriifolia--This plant has long, almost stringlike leaves. The species name notes that the plant has leaves (foliage) like those of Vallisneria (eelgrass).

Page citations: Casper, J. 1966; Partrat, E. 2001; Rice, B. 2006a; Schlauer, J. 2002.