Students for Stewardship The Cork Board
← Back to the library

Yellow Butterwort

Pinguicula lutea (ping-WIK-yoo-la LOO-tee-uh)

Family: Lentibulariaceae Native

Yellow Butterwort is a carnivorous plant native to the southeastern U.S.A in the bladderwort family. It traps small insects by using specialized glands on the surface of its leaves to secret mucilage. The yellow spurred flowers appear March to May. It prefers to grow in sandy nutrient-poor acidic soil in bogs in partial shade. It can be grown in a bog garden or container in moist but not submerges soils. Also used in terrariums. Habitat: Pine savannas and wet pine flatwoods, mostly in the outer Coastal Plain More information on Pinguicula .

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗ NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, 37 attributes.

Companions & Conflicts

Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.

No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.

Also noted by NC State

Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.

Full plant profile

Growing Conditions
Plant type
Carnivorous; Native Plant
Life cycle
Perennial
Light
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Sand
Soil drainage
Occasionally Wet
NC region
Coastal
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect
Leaf arrangement
Rosulate
Leaf shape
Oblong
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf feel
Fleshy
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Oblong fleshy and sticky yellow-green leaves in a basal rosette. Margins curl inward during digestion.
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower form
Head
Flower detail
Solitary yellow flowers with five irregular notched petals and five sepals. One of the petals curves back, forming a spur. Bloom from March to May.
Bloom time
Spring
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit detail
Fruits display from June to July.
Stem detail
Slender green stalk with fine hairs
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Southeast U.S.A.
Distribution
NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, LA
Wildlife value
This plant attracts bees, flies, butterflies, and moths.
Attracts
Bees; Butterflies; Moths
Food & Medicine
Harvest time
Summer
Fruit type
Capsule
Landscape Use
Landscape location
Coastal; Container; Pond
Landscape theme
Butterfly Garden; Native Garden; Rain Garden
Garden tags
#NC native #native carnivorus plant #fly friendly #Piedmont Mountains FACW #Coastal OBL #food source nectar #food source pollen #food source summer #yellow flowers #butterfly friendly #Audubon #bee friendly #container plant #boggy sites #moth friendly #illustration

Planted at Hunnicutt

Nobody’s planted this one yet.