36 FLOWERS OF THE BOGS AND MARSHES 



are contracted in the entrance, and the flap is semicircular -so that 

 it cannot be pushed aside. 



This is a floating plant, with much-divided leaves as in nearly all 

 aquatic submerged plants, the branches and segments thread-like, and 

 attached to them are numerous egg-shaped bladders or pitcher-like 

 bodies assisting in floating and also in obtaining insectivorous matter 

 for food. There are no roots. 



The flowers of this originally terrestrial plant are single, borne on 





BLADDERWORT (Utricitlaria vuJgaris, L.) 



Photo. J. Ward 



an erect scape, the corolla yellow, large, with a conical spur, in which 

 is the nectary, the upper lip entire, equalling the palate, and the lower 

 lip is rolled back. When the plant has flowered the bladders fill -with 

 water and sink. The calyx is divided into two segments nearly to 

 the base. There are only two stamens. 



The scape may be 6 in. long. The flowers bloom in June and 

 July. It is a perennial plant propagated by division. In autumn the 

 plant dies down, except the terminal part, and a bud is formed. 



An insect alighting on the lobes of the lower lip, visiting the flower, 

 thrusts its proboscis beneath the upper lip to reach the honey. This is 

 secreted in the spur in the lower lip, which is in 3 parts, the spur part 

 fitting into the upper lip and lateral lobes, and the insect touches with 



