Butterwort

Fig. 1 Butterwort

Fig.2 Flowering Butterwort

So here we have a few pictures of a very interesting carnivorous plant called Butterwort, which my plant systematics class found at found at Wilderness State Park in Emmet County, MI. For the most part, this plant seems pretty inconspicuous without it's flower, however upon further inquiry, you can find that it is comprised of sticky glandular leaves designed to get tiny gnats stuck to it. This plant is particularly awesome for the simple fact that it eats other living things, but also because it has this neat little purple flower (Fig. 2) which I find to be rather stunning (although the pictures don't give it adequate props). These plants enjoy life best in nutrient poor habitats, which accounts for their particular practice of nitrogen absorption (see Fig. 3). Although found in a completely different family, the carnivorous plant sundew (as observed in the bog), has a very similar method of catching it's prey in that it also produces sticky juices that attract and catch it's prey.

Fig 3. Flowering Butterwort with various captured prey
on lower leaf (little black dots)