plant and flower

side view of flower

extreme frontal close up of flower

Pinguicula acuminata is one of the Mexican Pinguicula which produce a buried Winter rosette. This means care has to be taken over the winter period as excessive moisture will cause the'bulb' to rot. However if kept under very dry conditions dessication can occur so a balance has to be maintained. The plant flowers in mid to late winter from the buried winter rosette. as a result flower stalks arise from the pot with no obvious sign of the plant. Another interesting aspect of the flower is the spur bent downward 90 degrees to the corolla tube. In spring the heart shaped leaves emerge from the rosette, with the summer leaves being considerably larger than the spring leaves. The rosette of the plant is similar to that of P.macrophylla so the two can easily be confused when not in flower.