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Bladderwort


Utricularia biloba)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Magnoliophyta
Class:Magnoliopsida
Order:Scrophulariales
Family: Lentibulariaceae
Genus:Utricularia
Species
See text

The genus Utricularia contains the 200 or more species of bladderworts, belonging to the Bladderwort family ( Lentibulariaceae).



Bladderworts occur all over the world. This is a strange genus, since the plants have no roots at all. Some have instead long branched stems or runners. Most species are aquatic or grow on wet soil. A few tropical species are epiphytic. Their labiate flowers vary in color, form and size.

This is a group of aquatic, epiphytic and terrestrial carnivorous plants that capture their prey by means of small bladderlike traps. The bladders may be microscopic, as in most terrestrial species, feeding on very small animals present in soil saturated with water. The bladders may be tiny, but they are most complex and ingenious.

However, in aquatic species such as Utricularia vulgaris, the bladders are large (up to 10 mm long) and feed on larger prey such as Daphnia and even small fish.

The bladder traps are primed with a partial vacuum, obtained by pumping water out of the bladder. This sucks in prey when they brush against trigger hairs connected to a small inward-opening trap-door. This whole process only takes ten to fifteen thousandths of second ! Enzymes are secreted to digest the prey and provide the plant with nutrients.

The name 'Utricularia' derives from the Latin word utricularius, which means : 'the master of a raft floated on bladders'

1 Species

Endangered

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Utricularia *''utricularia Bladderwort Small Species Bladders

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