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Utricularia subulata
Zigzag Bladderwort
Florida native
A common carnivorous plant of wet flatwoods throughout most of Florida. The range includes all of the southeastern United States west into Texas and Oklahoma, plus California, Indiana and Michigan and up the eastern seaboard to Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. Also occurs in Nova Scotia.
This minute wildflower grows mostly underground, with a thin bronze colored scape that extends up to 20 cm (8 in.) tall. The irregularly shaped flowers are usually yellow, although sometimes pale and whitish, and up to 1 cm (less than a half inch) long. Leaves are not readily evident and are usually at or below the surface of the wet soils. The finely dissected leaves have minute (0.5 mm) bladders that trap prey such as protozoa and rotifers for nutrition.
Utricularia subulata is a member of the Lentibulariaceae - Bladderwort family.
Other species of the Utricularia genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Utricularia cornuta - HORNED BLADDERWORT
Utricularia resupinata - LAVENDER BLADDERWORT
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 07, 2016
