BogTrapsA field guide to growing carnivorous plants

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Pinguicula: Butterworts

Pinguicula moranensis

Published October 15, 2026Awaiting editor review15 sources

The most widespread Mexican butterwort: broad, sticky summer leaves up to 13 cm long and large purple to violet flowers, replaced each dry season by a tight rosette of small succulent leaves.

Range
The main mountain ranges of Mexico from Nuevo León and Tamaulipas south to Chiapas, but not the Sierra Madre Occidental or the mountains of Baja California, continuing into Guatemala [2, 3]. WCVP also records it from El Salvador and Honduras [1].
Habitat
Mostly oak, pine-oak and cloud forest, on shaded, steep banks and north-facing slopes; the typical variety mainly on soils over limestone, var. neovolcanica on shallow soil over volcanic rock. It reaches drier forest and scrub only along sheltered, humid ravines [2, 3].
Status
IUCN has not assessed it. Zamudio's flora account says the typical variety, though patchily distributed, is locally abundant and faces no survival problems [2]. A genetic study of four central Mexican populations found strong differentiation and low gene flow between them, which the authors relate to the naturally fragmented mountain distribution of butterworts [4].

Growing conditions at a glance

Guidance published for the cultivation group this species belongs to.

Light
Bright light: ICPS says any bright window with some direct sun works, and rates Mexican butterworts as moderate-light plants under LEDs, about 8,000 to 15,000 lux of white light [5, 6].
Water
Pure water only. From spring to autumn the pot can stand in up to 2 cm of water; while the plant is in its succulent winter rosette, let the tray dry out for about a week between waterings [7].
Soil
Not a bog plant. ICPS suggests equal parts peat, coarse sand and perlite, with about a tablespoon of dolomitic lime per cup of mix, because most Mexican species prefer alkaline soil [7].
Humidity
ICPS treats Mexican butterworts as windowsill plants that cope with dry indoor air; Powell suggested 40 to 80% relative humidity [5, 8].
Temperature
Warm in summer and cooler in winter [7]. Powell found 10 to 27°C (50 to 80°F) with cool nights ideal and kept plants above about 7°C (45°F) [8].
Dormancy
Forms a rosette of small, succulent, non-carnivorous leaves in winter. Keep it cooler and drier then, and give it natural or gradually changing day length so it keeps cycling [7, 6].

The benchmark Mexican butterwort

Pinguicula moranensis is the most common and most widespread butterwort in Mexico, found in nearly every major mountain range there [2]. It is also the type species of section Orcheosanthus, the group of large, orchid-flowered Mexican butterworts [9]. Zamudio calls it polymorphic and highly variable across its range [2], so plants sold under this name can differ a good deal in leaf shape and flower color. The genus overview is on the Pinguicula page.

Two rosettes a year

Like most Mexican butterworts, it changes its leaves with the seasons [7]. The summer rosette has 6 to 8 (sometimes 4 to 12) thin leaves lying flat on the ground. Each blade is 5.5 to 13 cm long and 2.3 to 7.5 cm wide, with slightly inrolled edges and both stalked and sessile glands [2, 3]. The dry-season rosette is quite different: 30 to 60 or more small, fleshy, non-carnivorous leaves, mostly 1 to 3 cm long [2, 7].

In the wild in central Mexico, the winter rosette lasts from about December to April or May. Summer leaves start in May or June and reach full size between August and November [2]. Flowers have been seen in every month, peaking from July to September. They are 3 to 5 cm long including a slender spur of 1.5 to 3.8 cm, held on stalks usually 10 to 25 cm tall, and colored purple to violet-purple [2]. In cultivation Powell saw plants up to 24 cm across, with flowers in shades from purple to lavender and red, and a white clone [8]. ICPS shows a selection called ‘J’ [7].

Sources describe the winter rest differently. Zamudio’s field accounts describe a distinct winter rosette in both varieties [3, 2], and ICPS refers to “dormant” moranensis-type plants in winter [10]. Powell, writing from cultivation in California, found that his plants did not generally form a distinct resting bud: growth slowed and some forms made shorter leaves [8]. The difference may reflect the clones and growing conditions involved.

Two varieties and an old mix-up over the name

Humboldt and Bonpland collected the type specimens in 1803, supposedly near the Morán mine in the Sierra de Pachuca, Hidalgo. Zamudio found that the butterworts growing around the old mine do not match the type. Their winter rosettes are tight and bulb-like, with narrow, pointed leaves. The type has a loose, spreading winter rosette of spoon-shaped, blunt, hairy-tipped leaves, like plants on limestone at El Puente de Dios, a site the explorers visited [3]. He therefore named the volcanic-belt plants var. neovolcanica and kept var. moranensis for the limestone form [3].

var. moranensis var. neovolcanica
Winter rosette Loose, spreading or partly buried Compact and bulb-like, buried
Winter leaves Spoon-shaped, blunt, densely hairy Narrow, pointed, nearly hairless
Substrate Mainly limestone Shallow soil over volcanic rock
Elevation 800 to 2,850 m 1,500 to 2,900 m in the Bajío; recorded from 1,700 to 3,300 m overall

Sources for the table: Zamudio’s paper and flora account [3, 2]. Summer leaves and flowers of the two are so similar that herbarium specimens cannot be told apart without the winter rosette [3]. Published elevation ranges for the species also differ: Zamudio gives 800 to 3,200 m, while a species table in a 2025 study gives 100 to 3,200 m [2, 11].

Sticky leaves that also defend the plant

Alcalá and Domínguez followed five wild populations, from pine-oak forest to desert scrub. Prey capture rose toward the shadiest, most humid and most fertile site, but flowering peaked in the middle of the gradient, suggesting a trade-off between light, moisture and prey [12]. The glands do more than catch insects. In a field test, plants whose glands had been removed suffered 18 times more leaf damage from herbivores than intact plants [13].

A 2025 study found weak, facultative CAM photosynthesis, a pathway that improves water-use efficiency, in P. moranensis and four other Mexican butterworts after water was withheld in winter. The authors present it as the first report of CAM in any carnivorous plant [11].

Pollination and seed

ICPS explains that in Mexican butterworts the stigma forms a flap over the anthers, so flowers cannot pollinate themselves, and names hummingbirds as the usual pollinators of the group [7]. A field study of P. moranensis itself recorded mainly long-tongued butterflies and moths as visitors, and hand-pollination showed better seed set from cross-pollination than from selfing [14]. Selfed seed also performs badly: a later study measured inbreeding depression of 0.94 to 0.98, while pollen from a plant only 1 m away removed most of the effect [15].

To get seed, cross two clones by hand. ICPS suggests a toothpick, or tearing away the lower petals to reach the anthers and stigma directly. Sow on the surface of a damp, finely sifted mix at 15 to 25°C; germination takes 4 to 8 weeks [7]. See sowing seeds.

Growing it

The care fields above follow the ICPS guide for Mexican butterworts. A few points specific to this large species:

  • Pot size. Powell found it quickly outgrows a 10 cm (4 in) pot and grew single plants in 20 cm (8 in) pots [8]. ICPS repots after about five years, when old leaves form a thick thatch, or sooner if a salt crust appears [7].
  • Lime and humidity. Sources disagree. ICPS adds dolomitic lime and keeps plants in ordinary room air on a windowsill [7, 5]. Powell found lime unnecessary and wrote that Mexican butterworts generally need more humidity than most homes provide [8].
  • Feeding and chemicals. ICPS says light soil fertilization helps but fertilizer in the tray water easily burns plants, and that fungicides of any kind kill butterworts [7]. Keep a layer of coarse sand on the surface against fungus gnats.
  • Light. Flowers turn toward the window, so rotate the pot if you want to see them [5]. See light and growing indoors.

Propagation and hybrids

Leaf pullings are the standard method. For dormant moranensis-type plants, ICPS lifts the whole plant late in the dormant season, peels off up to half of the outer leaves, and repots at the same time. Pulled summer leaves also root, and mature plants can be grown in a year to 18 months [10]. The leaf pullings guide has the steps.

P. moranensis is a parent of many hybrids. Crosses with P. ehlersiae include ‘Weser’ and ‘Sethos’ [9], and ICPS shows ‘Pirouette’, which has P. agnata as its other parent [7]. Powell described the early ‘Weser’ as smaller than P. moranensis, about 12 cm across, and flowering freely most of the year [8].

Related guides

Related plants

Sources

  1. Pinguicula moranensis Kunth: World Checklist of Vascular Plants record (via GBIF). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; dataset published 2026-06-04, CC BY 4.0. Accepted name, authority, synonyms and native range. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  2. Familia Lentibulariaceae (Flora del Bajío y de Regiones Adyacentes, fascículo 136), by Sergio Zamudio Ruiz. Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Pátzcuaro (2005). Description with measurements, range, habitat, elevation, phenology, varieties, Spanish common names, local status. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  3. Notas sobre la identidad de Pinguicula moranensis H.B.K., con la descripción de una variedad nueva. Acta Botanica Mexicana 49: 23-34 (1999), by Sergio Zamudio. Type history, var. neovolcanica, wild growth cycle, habitat and elevation of the new variety. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  4. Genetic structure of the carnivorous plant Pinguicula moranensis on the transvolcanic Mexican belt. Biochemical Genetics 50: 416-427 (2012), Alcalá and Domínguez. Population differentiation and gene flow. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  5. Window Sill Garden. International Carnivorous Plant Society. Mexican Pinguicula as house plants; flowers turn toward the window. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  6. LED Plant Lighting. International Carnivorous Plant Society. Moderate light levels; Mexican Pinguicula need changing day length. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  7. Growing Mexican Pinguicula. International Carnivorous Plant Society. Soil, watering, light cues, fertilizer, repotting, flower structure, hand pollination, seed germination. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  8. Mexican Pings. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 16(4): 106-110 (1987), by Charles L. Powell II. Size and flower color in cultivation, pot size, temperature and humidity ranges, early hybrids. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  9. On the infrageneric classification of Pinguicula. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 50(4): 174-188 (2021), by Andreas Fleischmann. Type species of section Orcheosanthus; hybrids with P. ehlersiae. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  10. Mexican Pinguicula Leaf Pullings. International Carnivorous Plant Society. Taking leaves from dormant P. moranensis-type plants; timing; time to mature plants. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  11. Yes, we CAM! First evidence of CAM photosynthesis in a carnivorous plant. Plant Biology 28(1): 272-281 (published online 2025), Fleck, Messerschmid, Fleischmann, Ferrari and Kadereit. Weak, facultative CAM in P. moranensis and other Mexican species; species table with elevation. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  12. Patterns of prey capture and prey availability among populations of the carnivorous plant Pinguicula moranensis along an environmental gradient. American Journal of Botany 90(9): 1341-1348 (2003), Alcalá and Domínguez. Five populations from pine-oak forest to desert scrub; prey and reproduction. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  13. An experimental test of the defensive role of sticky traps in the carnivorous plant Pinguicula moranensis. Oikos 119(5): 891-895 (2010), Alcalá, Mariano, Osuna and Abarca. Glands also protect leaves from herbivores. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  14. Reproductive ecology of the carnivorous plant Pinguicula moranensis. Plant Biology 20(2): 205-212 (2018), Villegas and Alcalá. Flower visitors were mainly long-tongued Lepidoptera; cross-pollination gave higher fitness. Accessed October 12, 2026.
  15. Effects of crossing distance on fitness components in the carnivorous plant Pinguicula moranensis. Plant Species Biology 35(3): 175-184 (2020), Villegas, Ospina-Garcés, Fornoni, Domínguez and Alcalá. Strong inbreeding depression after selfing. Accessed October 12, 2026.