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Species library › Pinguicula › Pinguicula laxifolia
Carnivorous Little published: much of this is inferred from related species

Pinguicula laxifolia

A rare Mexican butterwort known only from the El Cielo cloud-forest reserve in Tamaulipas. It grows on shaded limestone rock walls and has unusually soft, drooping carnivorous leaves in summer. Like other Mexican butterworts, it switches to a compact, non-carnivorous winter rosette in the cool, dry season.

Pinguicula laxifolia
Photo: CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

It grows on well-shaded, vertical limestone rock faces in montane cloud forest. Specimen labels describe it as scarce, on limestone rocks, in cloud forest. The pendulous summer leaves hang down the rock face.

The original description gives about 1900–2070 m (6300–6800 ft). Herbarium labels from Rancho del Cielo, a cloud-forest site of around 1100 m, carry inconsistent elevations.

Mexico Northeast (Tamaulipas: El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, Gómez Farías)

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 2.5 licence, unmodified.