his plant requires prescribed burning to maintain an open, sunny habitat. Intense research into its life history has helped biologists better determine how this plant lives and its needs for management. R
ecent prescribed burning by the national forest has benefitted this species, aided by increased mapping efforts of all documented populations.
Godfrey’s Butterwort (Pinguicula ionantha) – This rare, carnivorous plant grows in pitcher plant bogs in Florida Panhandle counties near the Apalachicola Delta.
It needs prescribed fire to maintain an open, sunny wet prairie habitat and grows with other carnivorous plants that are abundant here.
In Tate’s Hell State Forest, an aggressive prescribed burning regimen has created a great, expanding population that explodes in numbers after each prescribed fire.
For more information about the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit FreshFromFlorida.com