General:
Insect-eating perennial herb from a fibrous root; stems erect, simple, solitary to few, 3-16 cm tall, glabrous to minutely hairy, the hairs club-shaped.
Leaves:
Basal leaves 5-7, simple, entire, fleshy, lance-elliptic, 1.5-5 cm long, 7-24 mm wide, glabrous below, glabrous or slimy-glandular above (where small insects are digested), margins inrolled; stem leaves lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of single flowers; corollas funnel-like, dark violet-blue, rarely white, 15-25 mm long, with a spur, white hairs in the throat, the lobes of the lower lip oblong to egg-shaped; calyces lobed, 3-5 mm long.
Fruits:
Capsules, 4-6 mm long, erect.
Notes:
Two closely related and intergrading subspecies occur in BC:
1. Corolla lobes of the lower lip oblong to nearly egg-shaped, more or less covering each other, or at least touching; lower lip of the calyces split up to half their length.....................ssp. macroceras (Link) Calder & Tayl.
1. Corolla lobes of the lower lip oblong, not covering or touching each other; lower lip of the calyces split up to 2/3 of their length...................ssp. vulgaris
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Pinguicula vulgaris var. vulgaris
1. Leaves solitary or 2; scapes glandular long-hairy; corollas pale bluish-violet, less than 10 mm long..............................Pinguicula villosa
1. Leaves 5-7; scapes glabrous or obscurely glandular; corolla dark bluish-violet, more than 1.5 mm long................................Pinguicula vulgaris 2. Corola lobes of the lower lip oblong to nearly egg-shaped, more or less covering each other, or at least touching; lower lip of the calyces split up to half their length................ssp. macrocerus 2. Corolla lobes of the lower lip oblong, not covering or touching each other; lower lip of the calyces split up to 2/3 of their length.......................ssp. vulgaris |