butterwort

American  

[buht-er-wurt, -wawrt] / ˈbʌt ərˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt /

noun

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

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butterwort British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of butterwort

First recorded in 1590–1600; butter + wort ²

Example Sentences

By crossing a butterwort with a Venus's-flytrap, Seymour creates a new plant type, which he calls Audrey Jr. and which, it happens, feeds on human blood.

From Time Magazine Archive

The common butterwort is one of several plants which exude a sticky substance so that the leaves act like flypaper.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then had come brilliant spots and splashes of color on the summer slopes—purple butterwort, golden ragweed, aconite, buttercup, deep crimson mossy patches of saxifrage, rosy heather, catchfly, wild geranium, cinnamon rose.

From Days of the Discoverers by Choate, Florence

The butterwort is but a 'prentice hand in the art of murder, and its intended victims often manage to get away from it.

From Little Masterpieces of Science: The Naturalist as Interpreter and Seer by Iles, George

Pinguicula, or butterwort, is the representative of this family upon land.

From Darwiniana; Essays and Reviews Pertaining to Darwinism by Gray, Asa