Q: Latin American Pinguicula hybrids

A: As far as I can recall, there are no verified reports of Latin American Pinguicula hybrids in the wild---all the hybrids are the result of horticultural efforts. Why would people make hybrids of these Pinguicula? The answer is mostly to develop plants with different flowers; remember that the flowers of Pinguicula, especially the Mexican ones, are usually very showy. There usually is not much to be gained in terms of foliage features, although there are exceptions to this especially when one of the parents is a species with highly elongated leaves (such as P. gypsicola or P. moctezumae). Another reason to hybridize Pinguicula is that the hybrids are often highly vigorous, and are more forgiving of cultivation cock-ups.

Some of the more noteworthy hybrids are mentioned below. In these cases, the comments apply to specific selections that have been given cultivar names.

• Pinguicula 'Weser'
• Pinguicula 'Titan'
• Pinguicula 'Pirouette'
• Pinguicula 'John Rizzi'
• Pinguicula 'Gina'

Pinguicula 'Aphrodite'--A plant with arching, elongated leaves that can have a weirdly fungal, pale color. Its hybrid parentage is P. agnata × moctezumae.

Pinguicula 'Enigma'--A plant with nice lilac flowers and spoon-shaped leaves. Its hybrid parentage is possibly P. cyclosecta × esseriana, although as the name suggests, it is not certain.

Pinguicula 'Gina'--An extremely pretty plant with hybrid parentage P. zecheri × agnata.

Pinguicula 'John Rizzi'--A plant of unknown parentage, developed by Peter D'Amato and some hummingbirds. It has nice, rose, large flowers.

Pinguicula 'Pirouette'--An extremely vigorous hybrid. If you cannot grow this, do not try any other Mexican species or hybrids until you mend your ways! Its hybrid parentage is P. agnata × (moranensis × ehlersiae).

Pinguicula 'Sethos' and Pinguicula 'Weser'--Two plants with the P. moranensis × ehlersiae parentage, and both with large purplish flowers.

Pinguicula 'Titan'--A plant developed by Leo Song, if grown well it can be truly enormous. Unfortunately, many of the specimens in cultivation are infected by some sort of pathogen which slows their growth and stunts the plant into a worthless lump. The parentage is unclear, but it involves P. agnata and possibly P. macrophylla.

• P. emarginata
  × cyclosecta
• P. moranensis
  × ehlersiae
• P. laueana
  × emarginata
• P. gracilis
  × moctezumae
• P. gypsicola
  × agnata

There are other officially registered, hybrid cultivars, but I have not grown them or seen much of them, so I do not have much to say about them. But for completeness, I list them below. Did I miss anything?
Pinguicula 'Florian'
Pinguicula 'George Sargent'
Pinguicula 'Hameln'
Pinguicula 'Hanka'
Pinguicula 'L'Hautil'
Pinguicula 'Tina'

Page citations: Brittnacher, J. et al. 2000; D'Amato, P. 1998a; Flisek, J., & Pasek, K. 2000; Rice, B. 2006a; Schlauer, J. 2002; Slack, A. 1986; Song, L. 2001b; Studnicka, M. 1992; Wyman, T.H. 2004.