Dear Rawatji, Thanks for the captioned and illustrative photographs. Very useful for a layman. Hope there will be many more such lucid illustrations. Regards, Dr. Badri Thank you all for liking and appreciating it. The image by Shrikant Ji seems quite robust plant, here it is thin and slender. DSRawat Pantnagar
On Monday, August 26, 2013 2:03:04 PM UTC+5:30, D.S Rawat wrote: > > Bladdertworts or Utricularias are insectivorous plants; no matter how > small are they. This *Utricularia striatula* Smith (Lentibulariaceae) is > a tiny plant reaching to a height of only 3 cm. It grows along with mosses > on moist rock faces with dripping water in shady conditions or on tree > trunks. Basal part of the inflorescence axis produces few creeping > branches-stolons, which bear small insect trapping devices evolved by this > genus during evolution. These traps are named variously- urceoli, ampullae, > vesiculae, utriculae, pitchers, bladders etc. The traps shown here are > hardly 1-1.5 mm large with a mouth (orifice) encircled by many appendages > (hair like structure). > > True leaves are absent in *Utricularia* and green photosynthetic organs > are referred as foliar organs which are present at the base of > inflorescence axis or on stolons here. > > In vegetative state *U.striatula* is very difficult to differentiate due > to small size and only becomes noticeable when flowers appear on erect > 2-3cm tall inflorescence axis. Flowers are comparatively larger being 7-10 > mm including spur and colourful. > > This species is widespread in India and reaches to Tropical Africa to > Malesia, China and Sri Lanka. > > 35 species of *Utricularia* are reported by M.K.Janarthanam and A.N.Henry > in their fine document “*Bladderworts of India*” published by Botanical > Survey of India in 1992. It was this document and help of these authors > which enabled me to identify my specimens as *U.brachiata* Olive in 1999, > a very rare Himalayan terrestrial bladderwort and was a new record to > Western Himalaya. > > Photographs shot near Jeolikot on way to Naini Tal in August 2013. > > With so minute bladders and even smaller mouth how much small insect will > it trap and digest? Whatever it may eat, it is happy and flourishing in its > habitats. > DSRawat Pantnagar > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to indiantreepix+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to indiantreepix@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to indiantreepix+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to indiantreepix@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
