#bladderworts

[jaikogoda]

[rattyexplores]

Golden Bladderwort surviving well after being washed up.

18/01/24 - Utricularia aurea

QLD:WET

[wormpharm]

Utricularia minor growing wild in the UK!

[witchstone]

Cape Bladderwort Utricularia bisquamata Table Mountain Nature Reserve, Cape Town, South Africa -33.964466, 18.41003 by murraychristian

[shrimp-bird]

A surprise "bunny"! Utricularia sandersonii usually is said to bloom in spring, but here's a single bloom in August. I'm not sure what to make of it, but after a hiccup with replacing my terrarium's lights it was a big relief to see on of my favorites in bloom.

[carnivorous-plants-nerd]

Illustration of bladderwort suction traps

This is my favorite illustration when it comes to the utricules of bladderworts, since it shows not just the little bladders themselves but also the thin little filaments that stretch out from the opening of the utricules.

To quote myself from both an earlier post and my original project on carnivorous plants:

“These filaments are sensitive to movement, and when something passes by the opening (agitating the filaments) the bladder will inflate, sucking in the surrounding water and the passing organism along with it, in a motion that happens so quickly that the human eye cannot track it."

[melangle]

bladderworts

[botanyshitposts]

traps of some different species of various aquatic/subterranean carnivorous plants of the Utricularia genus. passing microorganisms crawl on or swim past the fringes, which opens the door in the trap holding the vaccum-sealed bladder closed. this causes the prey to be abruptly sucked into the bladders, which close behind them to form a stomach for eating them alive. these are the fastest active traps in the plant kingdom, with some species reaching the sucking power of an adult large mouth bass while open!!

from “Insectivorous Plants of Khasi and Jaintia Hills Meghalaya, India (A Preliminary Survey)” by J. Joseph and K.M. Joseph. 

Species, from top to bottom, from left to right (also captioned):  

Utricularia khasiana, Utricularia khasiana (again), Utricularia stellaris, Utricularia pubescens, Utricularia tayloriana, Utricularia stanfieldii, Utricularia bifida, Utricularia caerulea, and Utricularia siriatula (with both the full bladder and just the fringe laid out) 

a gif of this kind of trap in action, slowed down slightly (not sure of the species):