Utricularia intermedia : Flat-leaved Bladderwort

Scientific Name:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:

• Tracheophyta (vascular)
• Spermatophyta (seed bearing)
Angiospermae (enclosed seed)

Class: Dicoteldonae (two seed-leaves)

Family: Lentibulariaceae (Bladderwort Family)

Genera: Utricularia (Bladderwort) (Lat. utriclus = little bag or bottle; referring to the small bladders on the leaves)

Species: intermedia (Lat. inter= between + medius= middle; perhaps referring to the intermediate size of these plants)

English Name(s):

Flat-leaved Bladderwort,

First Nation Names:

Structure:

• Plants free-floating in shallow water or creeping in mud.
• Leaves and bladders borne on separate branches.
• Bladders few 2-4mm wide.
• Stems slender, 0.4mm thick.

Leaves:

• Alternately arranged.
• Submersed
• Much divided into delicate thin, flat, segments.
• Margins minutely serrulate.
• 5-15mm long.

Reproductive Parts:

• Scapes (flower stalks) 10-25cm high, 2-5 flowered.
• Corolla (united petals) light yellow, 8-12mm long, with spur (point) about as long as lower lip.

Seed:

• Capsules on erect stalks.
• Seeds wrinkled and numerous.

Not to Be Confused With:

• Utricularia minor (Lesser Bladderwort) or Utricularia vulgaris (Common Bladderwort) both of which have the bladders and leaves on the same branches.

Physiology:

• Plants often reproduce by means of turions (buds) or winter buds.
• Turions or winter buds, which form at the tip of branches, drop off in autumn when the branch dies and fall to the bottom where they will sprout new plants the following spring.
• Bladders act as both floats and insect traps.
• Bladders are born on the branches will act as floats by filling with gas when the plant is ready to flower. Once bouyant the plant foats up from the bottom to the surface where its flowering stalk can rise out of the water.
• Bladders can retain enough water to keep the plant alive for a long period if the pond dries up.
• Bladders have appendages on the sides at their enterance. These appendages are triggered by prey swimming past. They cause the enterance to open sucking in water and the prey with it. Once prey are inside the entereance closes and digestive enzymes are released into the bladder.

Life Cycle:

• Perennial from over-wintering turions (plant buds) or winter buds.

Seasonal Cycle:

• Whole plant is deciduous (dieing back).

Animal Uses:

• Some bacteria may live in the bladders and help digest the prey in a symbiotic relationship.

Habitat:

• Ponds, lakes and often boggy, marshy or springy places.

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Traditional Gwich'in:

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