Utricularia inflata
| Utricularia inflata | |
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| 1913 illustration | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lentibulariaceae |
| Genus: | Utricularia |
| Subgenus: | Utricularia |
| Section: | Utricularia |
| Species: | U. inflata |
| Binomial name | |
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Utricularia inflata Walter |
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| Current distribution of U. inflata. Location information gathered from Peter Taylor's 1989 monograph and the USDA PLANTS database. | |
| Synonyms | |
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Plectoma inflata (Walter) Raf. |
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Plectoma inflata (Walter) Raf.
Plectoma stellata Raf.
U. ceratophylla Michaux
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.
U. inflata is one of the larger suspended aquatic species in the genus Utricularia. Like all aquatic Utricularia, U. inflata has no true roots or leaves. The stolons are the main vegetative "stem" of the plant and can be up to one meter long or longer but are only 1–2 mm thick. The stolons are glabrous with 1–5 cm between branched divisions. Occasionally the stolons will produce floating air shoots at the water's surface and tuber-like organs in the substrate. Its filiform leaf-like structures appear to be additional branches off the main stolon and are tiny, filament-like structures that are not true leaves, though the terminology is often disputed among experts. The leaf structures are numerous and anywhere from 2–18 cm long, originating from the stolon base into two primary and unequal segments, which are further divided extensively into additional segments. The stalked, ovoid traps, 1–3 mm long, are produced on the latter leaf segments and are very numerous.
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