butterwort

[ buht-er-wurt, -wawrt ]

noun

1. any small, carnivorous plant of the genus Pinguicula, having leaves that secrete a viscid substance in which small insects are caught.

butterwort

/ ˈbʌtəˌwɜːt /

noun

1. a plant of the genus Pinguicula , esp P. vulgaris , that grows in wet places and has violet-blue spurred flowers and fleshy greasy glandular leaves on which insects are trapped and digested: family Lentibulariaceae

Word History and Origins

Origin of butterwort¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; butter + wort ²

Example Sentences

This is the Butterwort (Pinguicula), and it is not a bad name, for the leaves remind one of butter.

From Project Gutenberg

There are three British species of Butterwort (Pinguicula), similar in structure and habit, all growing in bogs and on wet rocks.

From Project Gutenberg

From no catalogue of quaint plants could the butterwort be omitted.

From Project Gutenberg

He could watch the butterwort curving round the edges of its wan green foliage upon the captured limbs of fly or aphis.

From Project Gutenberg

The order to which the butterwort and the bladderworts belong also afforded valuable results.

From Project Gutenberg