Pinguicula medusina, a geophyte?

Dennis Kramb dkramb@badbear.com
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:20:37 PST
So I've been mesmerized by a new (to me) genus of insectivorous plants: 
Pinguicula... aka butterworts. I got my first one a few days ago, and 
it's got me wanting more and more. I'm especially excited about the 
diversity of Pinguiculas from the southeastern USA (not too far from 
where I live). I never realized what a hotbed of carnivorosity (?) 
(umm... carnivorous diversity?) the southeastern USA is!

I had no reason to believe they might be geophytes (or of interest to 
PBS members) until I read this about Pinguicula medusina, of Oaxaca, Mexico:

"In December, the “winter rosette “ is formed. The “ winter rosette “ is 
compact, like an onion bulb and buried under the soil surface. In this 
state, the plant is protected by a sheath of dry leaves like a skin 
until the next growing period."

So now I'm all confused! Can I get a ruling on this? Geophyte, or not? 
Perhaps a "seasonal geophyte"? Ugh... why can't nature behave and fit 
nicely into man-made categories?!?! Stupid nature.

The excerpt, above, comes from this page 
http://pinguicula.org/pages/plantes/… in the 
"Life Cycle" section.

If only my tax refund was bigger... I could buy more of these little cuties!

Dennis in Cincinnati, where the snow is melting fast


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