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NW. +r 
Quarterly Magazine 
OF THE 
High Wyeombe Natural History Society. 
BHladderworts, 
WO, or at most three, small plants, so insignificant that it 
would be quite a chance if anyone who was not a botanist 
should observe them, and, as far as we know, of not the least 
use to man, constitute the British representatives of the genus 
Utricularia. 
The Natural Order to which they belong is a very small one, 
and contains, besides these Bladderworts, only three more 
genera, of which the Pinguiculas, or Butterworts, are also British 
plants. The Order is best known by the pretentious name 
Lentibulariacea, but as this is derived from a discarded synonym 
of the Bladderwort, it would surely be better to call it after 
Utricula— Utriculacee. 
Perhaps some one may think that if they are so very insignifi- 
cant, they are not worth writing a paper about; but when we 
come to know these little plants, we find that they recommend 
themselves even by their absolute beauty ; and when we come to 
study their manner of growth and their admirable structure, we 
find that, like all plants in which there are special contrivances 
to ensure a special end, their history is far more curious and 
interesting than that of many larger and more showy plants. 
I intend, in this paper, only to describe our British Utricularias, 
but I cannot help just mentioning one South American species, 
. because its history is so very remarkable, and illustrates very well 
some of the peculiar habits of the tribe. In the Organ Mountains 
in Brazil, there are found large species of Tillandsia, plants of 
the Pine-apple Order. The large leaves of these plants, clasping 
around the stem, form natural reservoirs in which the rainwater 
collects, just as we see in the leaves of the teazel ; and one species 
of Utricularia is said to be found growing only in these watercups. 
In this strange situation the plant flourishes, and propagates 
