humped bladderwort
Utricularia gibba
Its underwater bladder traps operate via negative pressure, snapping shut and vacuuming in prey in less than a millisecond.
- Scientific name
- Utricularia gibba
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Lamiales › Lentibulariaceae › Utricularia
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Shallow, quiet, nutrient-poor waters of ponds, lakes, marshes, and ditches.
- Diet
- Carnivorous (microscopic aquatic organisms like daphnia, protozoans, and rotifers).
- Range
- North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, Australia
- Size
- Floating mats with stems up to 20 cm; traps are 1 to 2 mm.
- Lifespan
- Perennial (indefinite via clonal growth)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Wetland destruction, water pollution, herbicide runoff, and invasive aquatic species.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. This tiny carnivorous plant poses no threat to humans. Observe its delicate yellow flowers from the safety of the shoreline to avoid disrupting fragile wetland habitats.
Utricularia gibba , commonly known as the humped or floating bladderwort , is a small, mat-forming species of carnivorous aquatic bladderwort. It is found on all continents except Antarctica.
Photo: Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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