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• Aquatic plants
• Water plants with leaves and stems
• Utricularia geminiscapa

Utricularia geminiscapa — mixed bladderwort

Facts

Mixed bladderwort is confined to Northeastern North America, and recently naturalized in New Zealand. Its common name refers to the fact that it produces two types of flowers, those that open and can exchange pollen with other plants (chasmogamous) and those that remain closed, transferring its own pollen to the stigma inside (cleistogamous). Both types of flower can create viable seeds.

Habitat

Bogs, fens, lacustrine (in lakes or ponds), shores of rivers or lakes

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther color

  there is a noticeable pink, reddish or purplish tint to the anthers

  Carpels fused

  the carpels are fused to one another

  Flower lower lip length

  0–8 mm

  Flower number

  1–8

  Flower position

  • the flowers are above the surface of the water
  • the flowers are below the surface of the water

  Flower symmetry

  there is only one way to evenly divide the flower (the flower is bilaterally symmetrical)

  Inflorescence type

  • the inflorescence has only one flower on it
  • the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)

  Length of flower stalk

  5–15 mm

  Length of peduncle

  5–250 mm

  Nectar spur

  the flower has nectar spurs

  Number of carpels

  2

  Ovary position

  the sepals and/or petals are attached below the ovary

  Palate on corolla

  • no
  • yes

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  • the flower includes only one cycle of petals or sepals
  • the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Petal color

  yellow

  Petal fringed edges

  the petals are not fringed

  Petal fusion

  the perianth parts are fused to form a tube, cup, or bell shape

  Petal hairs on inner/upper surface

  there are no hairs on the inner/upper petal surface

  Petal length

  5–8 mm

  Petal number

  0–5

  Petal or sepal number

  • there are five petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower
  • there are two petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower

  Pistil number

  1

  Sepal appearance

  the sepals resemble leaves in color and texture

  Sepal number

  2

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  the sepals are separate from one another

  Stamen number

  1 or 2

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

  Stamens fused

  the stamens are not fused to one another

  Stamens fused to petals

  the stamens are fused near the bases of the petals or tepals

  Style length

  At least 0 mm

  Style number

  0–1

• Fruits or seeds

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a capsule (splits along two or more seams, apical teeth or pores when dry, to release two or more seeds)

• Glands or sap

  Oil glands on nodes

  none of the nodes have oil glands

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  • the plant lives more than two years
  • the plant lives only a single year or less

  Root septa

  the roots do not have transverse septa

  Roots floating in water

  there are no clusters of roots floating in the water

  Turions

  the plant has turions

  Underground organs

  NA

• Leaves

  Bract position (Sparganium)

  NA

  Bract relative length

  At least 1379 mm

  Bracts

  the flowers or their pedicels have bracts at their bases

  Floating leaf basal lobes

  no

  Floating leaf blade width

  10–35 mm

  Floating leaf length

  0 mm

  Floating leaf shape

  • the leaf blade is orbicular (roughly circular, as wide as long)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Floating leaf tip

  the tip of the floating leaf blade is rounded, with no point

  Floral bract form

  the bracts are much more lobed, or much less lobed, than the foliage leaves

  Floral bract length

  2–3 mm

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade length

  10–20 mm

  Leaf blade veins

  the lateral veins radiate from the base and continue to spread away from the centerline of the leaf, or branch off the central vein at intervals

  Leaf blade width

  10–35 mm

  Leaf position

  • some of the leaves are floating at the surface of the water
  • the leaves are all submerged underwater

  Leaf special features

  the leaves have bladder-like traps

  Leaf-like branch segments

  0

  Leaf-like branch shape

  the leaf-like branches are round

  Specific leaf type

  the leaf is divided into two equal parts which in turn are divided into two further parts; each of these parts are divided and each of these may be further divided

  Staminate bract edge (Myriophyllum)

  NA

  Stipule appearance

  NA

  Stipule fused to leaf

  NA

  Stipules

  there are no stipules on the plant

  Stipules fused around stem

  NA

  Trap-bladder length

  0.5–5 mm

  Underwater leaf air passage number

  At least 1439

  Underwater leaf air passage relative width

  At least 4336

  Underwater leaf air passage row number

  0

  Underwater leaf blade edges

  the underwater leaf has smooth edges, without teeth

  Underwater leaf blade shape

  • NA
  • the underwater leaf blade is orbicular (roughly circular, as wide as long)
  • the underwater leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Underwater leaf blade veins

  1–3

  Underwater leaf blade width

  10–35 mm

  Underwater leaf length

  10–20 mm

  Underwater leaf stalk

  yes

  Underwater leaf tip shape

  the tip of the underwater leaf is rounded, with no point

  Veins in floating leaf

  1–3

• Place

  Habitat

  • aquatic
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • bogs
  • fens
  • in lakes or ponds
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem growth form

  the flowering stem is upright

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae