Swollen Bladderwort

Utricularia inflata

''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.
Swollen Bladder At New Marsh This is a picture of Swollen Bladderwort at New Marsh on the North Tract of the Patuxent Research Refuge near Fort Meade, Maryland. Geotagged,Spring,Swollen Bladderwort,United States,Utricularia inflata

Appearance

''Utricularia 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 filiform 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 cmbetween 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.
Swollen Bladderwort At Governor Bridge This is a picture of Utricularia inflata at the Governor Bridge Natural Area in Bowie, Maryland.
 Geotagged,Spring,United States,Utricularia inflata

Distribution

''Utricularia inflata'' is native to the southeastern United States.

Habitat

''U. inflata'' inhabits aquatic environments such as lakes, ditches, and swamps from shallow to deep waters at low altitudes.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderLamiales
FamilyLentibulariaceae
GenusUtricularia
SpeciesU. inflata