Chapman’s Butterwort (Pinguicula planifolia) is a carnivorous plant found in the western Florida Panhandle. Often you see its leaves just under the surface of the shallow standing water that it prefers.
These sticky basal leaves entrap insects that are attracted to the leaves’ glandular secretions. The flat basal leaves, often pinkish to reddish, distinguish it from Florida’s other butterworts which have greenish to yellowish leaves that are much more cupped. These flat leaves are described by the species name planifolia which means flat leaf.
Deeply incised white to pale purplish flowers arise from the basal leaves.
The common name honors botanist Alvan Wentworth Chapman. Chapman’s Butterwort is a Florida threatened speces.
