BRITISH SPECIES OF UTRICULARIA. 87 



long as broad), deep golden yellow, twisted in laid into a very acute 

 cone ; upper lip slightly concave and arching, twice as long as the 

 palate ; palate very prominent, folded, with purplish-brown striae ; 

 lower lip broad, spreading, broader than long ; spur conic subacute 

 curving in toAvards the lip ; stigma very unequally lobed, upper 

 lobe very small, lower broadly lingulate. 



The distribution of this species is very curious ; putting aside 

 doubtful records, it skips the whole of central England, excepting 

 ]S^orfolk, and from Dorset and Hants in the south is unheard of 

 till we reach the three northernmost counties ; in Scotland it is 

 more frequent, being recorded in some ten counties ; it also occurs 

 in Ireland, chiefly in the west , I have seen it plentifully in parts 

 of Galway. 



It differs from the two previous species in being much smaller 

 in nearly every respect ; in the disposition of the bladders (which 

 are exceptionally large for the plant) upon branches which are 

 leafless, or nearly so, in the neighbourhood of the bladders, though 

 often prolonged into terminal leafy shoots ; in the distichous 

 arrangement of the leaves, which lie almost in one plane and bear 

 no bladders. The inflorescence is very similar to that of U. nerjleda 

 only on a smaller scale ; the pedicels are indeed shorter in propor- 

 tion, and the spur more acute, l)ut in the twisting of the flower in 

 bud, in the relative length of upper lip and palate, and in the 

 spreading margin of the lower lip, there is a close rcsemljlancc to 

 the floral characters of U. negleda. The remarkable feature of the 

 bladders being borne on the leafless part of the branches may, I 

 think, be accounted for in this way. They are usually f(jund on 

 the parts which burrow in the loose peaty mud of the bog, which 

 is in a semi-fluid state ; consequently they are usually of a pale, 

 whitish hue, and semi-transparent before they get clogged with the 

 dehri^i of their animal food. The i^ame burrowing propensity 

 prevents the development of perfcjct leaves, which are only to be 

 found on the branches that lie exposed to the light on the surface 

 of the submerged mud. These perfect leaves are sessile and 

 trichotomous from the base The bladders, each on a slender stalk 



