Biology:Utricularia sandersonii

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Short description: Species of carnivorous plant

Utricularia sandersonii
Utricularia sandersonii flower.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lentibulariaceae
Genus: Utricularia
Subgenus: Utricularia subg. Bivalvaria
Section: Utricularia sect. Calpidisca
Species:
U. sandersonii
Binomial name
Utricularia sandersonii
Oliv.
Synonyms
  • U. sandersonii var. treubii
    (Kamieński) Kamieński
  • U. treubii Kamieński

Utricularia sandersonii, Sanderson's bladderwort, is a species of flowering plant in the bladderwort family. Originally described and published by the British botanist Daniel Oliver in 1865, it is a carnivorous evergreen perennial, endemic to northern KwaZulu-Natal and Transkei in South Africa.

Description

Up to 50 cm (20 in) tall and broad, it grows as a lithophyte on wet, often vertical rocky surfaces at altitudes from 210 m (689 ft) to 1,200 m (3,937 ft).[1] Carnivory occurs beneath the surface, whereby tiny bladders on underground stems capture the micro-organisms which inhabit saturated soil. The visible parts of the plant are not carnivorous. Above ground it bears quantities of white flowers with pale blue markings, long forward-curved spurs and double lobes which resemble rabbits' ears.[2]

A pot is filled with Utricularia sandersonii plants that are flowering, with a card stating the species name.
A flowering cluster of Utricularia sandersonii.

Cultivation

Utricularia sandersonii thrives in conditions that are relatively easy to replicate at home, and so has become a popular houseplant which can tolerate temperatures down to 1 °C (34 °F), but not freezing. It must be kept moist at all times and requires moderate lighting for continuous flowering. It is not able to perform self-pollination, so a male and a female specimen is needed for sexual reproduction, but asexual reproduction by fragmentation is much faster and easier. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[2][3]

Invasive plant

U. sandersonii is listed on the New Zealand National Pest Plant Accord since it is an invasive species.[4]

See also

References

Wikidata ☰ Q140405 entry