Chapter XIII 

 UTRICULARIA, BIOVULARIA AND POLYPOMPHOLYX 



Form, habit and habitat. — Distribution. — Embryology. — The various types ar- 

 ranged according to the character of their traps. — The vulgaris type (Freely floating 

 forms. Semi-submersed, submersed but anchored forms. Terrestrial and epiphytic forms). 

 — Biovularia, a floating type. — The purpurea type, a floating form. — The dichotoma- 

 monanthos type (Floating form. Terrestrial. Polypompholyx: annual, monaxial). — The 

 cornuta type. — The caerulea type. — The capensis type. — The orbiculata type. — The 

 longiciliata type. — The globulariaefolia type. — The nana type. — The Lloydii type. — 

 The Kirkii type. — The simplex type. 



Of the Lentibulariaceae there are recognized by Kamienski five 

 genera, Pinguicula, Genlisea, Polypompholyx, Utricularia and Bio- 

 vularia. The first two, Pinguicula and Genlisea have already been 

 considered. It now remains to treat Utricularia, Polypompholyx and 

 Biovularia. These plants are freely floating or anchored aquatics, or 

 are epiphytic, in wet moss, or are terrestrial in wet to moist sandy 

 soils. The largest of these are among the aquatic and epiphytic 

 forms. The former are well exemplified by U. vulgaris, among the 

 best known, which is a lax floating plant of several feet in extent, 

 but of little mass. The epiphytic U. reniformis is more massive 

 and makes a brave showing as a greenhouse plant, frequently found 

 in the good company of the orchids because of the similar habitat 

 requirements and the showiness of their flowers. It is indigenous in 

 Brazil. One species, U. nelumbifolia, finds its home habitually in the 

 water-containing leaf rosettes of large Tillandsias, whence it sends 

 out runners which reach into the urns of neighboring rosettes 

 (Gardner 1842, Ule 1898). Showy species are U. Humholdtii, U. 

 longifolia (both S. America), U. Endresii (Costa Rica) and the related 

 U. Dusenii which, though small, has a flower of the same type. Other 

 of the larger species are the tropical American terrestrial U. globu- 

 lariaefolia and amethystina (Trinidad), and a few others chiefly no- 

 ticeable because of their tall inflorescences. But among the aquatics 

 are found also the smallest species, as e.g. U. cymbantha (Africa) and 

 a related unnamed species of still smaller size, the flower being only 

 2 mm. long, and the stolons mere threads, collected by Miss E. L. 

 Stephens in Portuguese East Africa. As small are the two species re- 

 ferred by Kameenski to Biovularia, B. minima and B. olivacea. With 

 a few exceptions such as those above noted, the terrestrial species 

 are smafl. When in flower and in numbers, they are conspicuous 

 enough, but if not in flower they may be found only with very as- 

 siduous hunting. How one would find U. simplex (S. W. Australia) 

 unless in flower is past guessing, so minute are the leaves. 



But large or small, massive or delicate, perennial or evanescent 

 annuals, they present a complex and puzzling morphology. They 

 are entirely rootless, even in the embryonic condition. The distinc- 

 tion between stem and leaf is vague. Only in the inflorescence and 

 in certain shoots (air-shoots of U. vulgaris etc.) is the morphology 



