| Leftover European and AsianPinguicula | |
|---|---|
| Subgen. Isoloba sect. Cardiophyllum | |
| P. crystallina | Cyprus, Turkey |
| P. hirtiflora | Italy, Albania, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey |
| P. louisii | Albania |
| Subgen. Isoloba sect. Isoloba | |
| P. lusitanica | UK, coastal France, Portugal, Spain, n Morocco |
Q: Leftover European Pinguicula
A: The species on this table don't easily fit into my other pages, so I have relegated them to
this mishmash page.
Section Isoloba--in Europe, nearly all the species of
Pinguicula form hibernacula. However, there are three species which act much more
like tropical species. These plants,
Pinguicula crystallina, P. hirtiflora, and P. louisii,
are very similar to each other, and the botanically
conservative approach is to reduce all three to a single species; in such a treatment
P. crystallina would be called P. crystallina subsp.
crystallina, and P. hirtiflora and
P. louisii would be combined into the single entity called
P. crystallina subsp. hirtiflora (Ten.) Strid.
Another approach would be to treat P. louisii as P. hirtiflora var.
P. louisii. This is all very messy and confusing!
In my listings, I
tabulate them as three separate entities. Do not overinterpret this as an ex cathedra
statement. The status of the species in this group is still open for interpretation, as as I study them more, I
am likely to revise my position on them.
P. hirtiflora
P. hirtiflora
P. lusitanica
P. lusitanica
Pinguicula lusitanica--this cute little species never gets large. It germinates, lives for only a few
months, makes a tiny rosette and an equally tiny flower, and then without further notice it produces seed and dies. The whole
process takes less than a year. If you want to grow this plant, you do not have to collect seed because they will germinate
without intervention wherever they land, if conditions are suitable. In fact, it can be a small but entertaining little weed.
Just keep it away from your seedling pots of other Pinguicula so it does not confuse you.
Page citations: Casper, J. 1966; Rice, B. 2006a; Schlauer, J. 2002;
Shuka, L., et al. 2007.
