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Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains

Utricularia L. -- Bladderwort

Free-floating aquatics with elongate, lax stems clothed in alternate, submersed leaves which are finely dissected into many linear segments, some or all of these bearing bladders which trap tiny aquatic invertebrates; stem apices commonly producing free-floating winter buds in late summer and autumn. Flowers 2-many in scapose, bracteate racemes held above the water surface, perfect, irregular; calyx 2-parted nearly to the base into an upper and lower segment, the upper one somewhat broader; corolla yellow, bilabiate, the upper lip erect, subentire or slightly 2-lobed, the lower lip entire or slightly 3-lobed, prominently arched toward the base to form a conspicuous or inconspicuous palate, the tube prolonged backward into a spur; stamens 2, inserted near the base of the tube; stigma unevenly 2-lobed, style short or obsolete, ovary superior, maturing into a many-seeded capsule.

Reference:

 
Rossbach, C. B.  1939.  Aquatic utricularias.  Rhodora 41:113-128.

Lead	Characteristic	Go To
1	Ultimate leaf segments flat, nearly to fully as wide as the primary ones, with a distinct midvein; lower lip of the corolla about 2X as long as the upper.	Lead 2
1	Ultimate leaf segments filiform, the segments progressively narrower in successive branchings; lower lip of the corolla little if any longer than the upper.	U. vulgaris
2	Bladders borne on specialized branches distinct from the dissected leaves; leaf segments spinulose-toothed.	U. intermedia
2	Bladders borne on ordinary leaves; leaf segments entire, sometimes toothed at the tip.	U. minor

46. Lentibulariaceae, the Bladderwort Family

1. Utricularia L. -- Bladderwort

1. Utricularia intermedia Hayne

2. Utricularia minor L.

3. Utricularia vulgaris L. -- Common bladderwort

Return to Family -- Lentibulariaceae - The Bladderwort Family
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