Utricularia, commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species. They occur in fresh water and wet soil as terrestrial or aquatic species across every continent except Antarctica. Utricularia are cultivated for their flowers, which are often compared with those of snapdragons and orchids, especially amongst carnivorous plant enthusiasts.
Genlisea is a genus of carnivorous plants also known as corkscrew plants. The 30 or so species grow in wet terrestrial to semi-aquatic environments distributed throughout Africa and Central and South America. The plants use highly modified underground leaves to attract, trap and digest minute microfauna, particularly protozoans. Although suggested a century earlier by Charles Darwin, carnivory in the genus was not proven until 1998.
Utricularia vulgaris is an aquatic species of bladderwort found in Asia and Europe. The plant is free-floating and does not put down roots. Stems can attain lengths of over one metre in a single growing season, but die back and form turions in winter. The leaves are finely pinnately divided, between one and eight centimetres long and carry many bladder-like traps. The yellow flowers are borne on stalks above the surface of the water between April and August. In eastern Asia and North America, its place is taken by the related species U. macrorhiza.
Drosera capillaris, also known as the pink sundew, is a species of carnivorous plant belonging to the family Droseraceae. It is native to the southern United States, the Greater Antilles, western and southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.
A protocarnivorous plant, according to some definitions, traps and kills insects or other animals but lacks the ability to either directly digest or absorb nutrients from its prey like a carnivorous plant. The morphological adaptations such as sticky trichomes or pitfall traps of protocarnivorous plants parallel the trap structures of confirmed carnivorous plants.
Utricularia gibba, commonly known as the humped bladderwort or floating bladderwort, is a small, mat-forming species of carnivorous aquatic bladderwort. It is found on all continents except Antarctica.
Utricularia resupinata, popularly known as lavender bladderwort or northeastern bladderwort, is a small perennial subaquatic carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. It is native to eastern Canada, the United States, and Central America. This plant species has an interesting etymology, growth pattern, ecology, and research history. As a plant that is threatened or endangered in many of the States where it is found, it is a candidate for sound conservation efforts.
Philcoxia is a genus of seven rare plant species in the Plantaginaceae that are endemic to Brazil and resemble terrestrial species of the genus Utricularia. The genus, formally described in 2000, consists of the species P. bahiensis, P. goiasensis, P. minensis, P. tuberosa, P. rhizomatosa, P. maranhensis and P. courensis, each of the first three named for the Brazilian state to which it is endemic. The species are characterized by subterranean stems, peltate leaves at or below the soil surface, and five-lobed calyces. Their habitat has been reported as areas of white sand in the midst of cerrado vegetation at an elevation between 800 and 1450 m. Initial descriptions of the genus included suspicions that the plethora of stalked capitate glands on the upper surfaces of leaves was an indication that these species may be carnivorous. A study published in 2007 tested P. minensis for protease activity, a typical test for the carnivorous syndrome, and could detect none. Later studies detected other digestive enzymes such as phosphatases and qualitatively assessed prey digestion and nutrient uptake, suggesting that it is a true carnivorous plant. The genus epithet honors David Philcox (1926-2003), a botanist at Kew Gardens who worked extensively in tropical Scrophulariaceae.
Utricularia foliosa, the leafy bladderwort, is a large suspended aquatic carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. It is probably a perennial plant that cultivates in lake, swamps and ponds. U. foliosa is native to Africa and North and South America, widely distributed among many countries. Although, they are widely distributed around the world, very little studies have been contributed to U. foliosa. They like to sprout all year long, and found in large body of water. The environment that Utricularia foliosa are found in are experiencing negative anthropogenic impacts such as drainage and conversion to urban or agricultural activities are causing rapid environmental degradation.
Utricularia inflata, commonly known as the swollen bladderwort, inflated bladderwort, or large floating bladderwort, is a large suspended aquatic carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. It is a perennial that is native to the southeastern coastal plains of the United States. It has often been confused with U. radiata, which is similar but smaller than U. inflata. Since 1980, U. inflata has been reported to exist in locations beyond its traditional range, such as the Adirondack Mountains in New York, southeastern Massachusetts, and in Washington State. Studies on the populations in the Adirondacks suggest that an introduction of U inflata. to a location where it naturalizes can lead to altered sediment chemistry by reducing the net primary productivity of native species. It is also listed by the state of Washington as a problematic species because of the dense mat-forming habit of this aquatic Utricularia. It is one of the few carnivorous plants that can be invasive.
Utricularia minor, the lesser bladderwort, is a small species of perennial carnivorous plant in the family Lentibulariaceae. It is usually found affixed to the substrate but it can also survive suspended in a body of water. U. minor is a circumboreal species and is found in North America, Asia, and Europe.
Utricularia intermedia, the flatleaf bladderwort or intermediate bladderwort is a small, perennial carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. It is usually found affixed to the substrate but it can also survive suspended in a body of water. U. intermedia is a circumboreal species and is found in North America, Asia, and Europe.
Utricularia ochroleuca, the yellowishwhite bladderwort, pale bladderwort, or cream-flowered bladderwort, is a small, perennial carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. It is usually found affixed to the substrate. U. ochroleuca is a circumboreal species and is found in North America, Asia, and Europe.
Utricularia stygia, the arctic bladderwort or Northern bladderwort, is an affixed aquatic carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. U. stygia is native to northern Europe and North America. This species was originally published by Göran Thor in 1987 but the description was not in Latin and was therefore nomenclaturally invalid. Thor validly published the species a year later. The cited difference that separates U. stygia from U. ochroleuca is the shape of the tiny quadrifid glands inside the bladders, specifically at which angle the "arms" of these glands diverge from one another. Thor, when working on the Utricularia of Sweden noted that this distinction alone allowed for consistent species identification. Both Barry Rice and Peter Taylor have expressed concerns regarding how this method applies to other populations around the world.
Utricularia purpurea, the eastern purple bladderwort, is a medium-sized suspended aquatic carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. U. purpurea is endemic to North and Central America. It has been suggested that U. purpurea may have partially lost its appetite for carnivory. Richards (2001) did an extensive study in the field on it and noted that trapping rates of the usual Utricularia prey were significantly lower than in other species in the genus. Richards concludes that this species can still trap and digest arthropod prey in its specialized bladder traps, but does so sparingly. Instead, it harbors a community of algae, zooplankton, and debris in the bladders that indicates U. purpurea favors a mutualistic interaction in place of a predator–prey relationship.
Utricularia humboldtii is a large perennial carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. Peter Taylor lists it as either an "aquatic-epiphyte", a subaquatic or a terrestrial species. U. humboldtii is endemic to South America, where it is found in Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela. It was originally published and described by Robert Hermann Schomburgk in 1840. It is usually found growing in the water-filled leaf axils of some species of bromeliad, including Brocchinia micrantha, B. tatei, and B. reducta and also plants in the genus Orectanthe. It also grows as an epiphyte on tree trunks or as a subaquatic or terrestrial species in shallow water or wet soil in open savanna. It is found mostly between altitudes of 1,200 m (3,937 ft) and 2,500 m (8,202 ft), though it has been found at altitudes as low as 300 m (984 ft). It has been collected in flower throughout every month of the year.
Utricularia livida, the leaden bladderwort, is a species of flowering plant in the bladderwort family, native to central and southern Africa, and Mexico. Growing to 50 cm (20 in) tall and broad, it is a carnivorous perennial. It was originally described and published by Ernst Heinrich Friedrich Meyer in 1837.
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They still generate all of their energy from photosynthesis. They have adapted to grow in waterlogged sunny places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic bogs. They can be found on all continents except Antarctica, as well as many Pacific islands. In 1875, Charles Darwin published Insectivorous Plants, the first treatise to recognize the significance of carnivory in plants, describing years of painstaking research.
Utricularia cornigera is a large perennial carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. U. cornigera was described in 2009 by Miloslav Studnička based on his study of the variation in cultivated plants labeled Utricularia reniformis and apparent different geographic ranges. U. cornigera is found on Serra dos Órgãos in south-eastern Brazil and as of the new species' description, was not found in the presence of U. reniformis. Utricularia cornigera has been grown in cultivation under the name U. reniformis and with the cultivar name 'Big Sister'. It differs from U. reniformis by having 6-8 primordial leaves emerging from the seed during germination with a float and whorl of leaves. Utricularia cornigera also produces two distinct types of bladder traps that are dimorphic and it generally has larger leaves.
Pinguicula, commonly known as butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition they obtain from the environment. Of the roughly 80 currently known species, 13 are native to Europe, 9 to North America, and some to northern Asia. The largest number of species is in South and Central America.
