XCIV. LEXTIBULARIE.E (STAPF). 469 



to a short basal protuberance ; ovules numerous, sessile and closely 

 packed, rarely few or only 2, anatropous. Fruit a 1-celled, few- to 

 many-seeded capsule, dehiscing irregularly or by 2-± valves or circum- 

 scissile, very rarely 1 -seeded and indehiscent. Seeds very small, variously 

 shaped ; testa thin or spongy or corky, rarely exuding mucilage ;. 

 endosperm ; embryo undifferentiated or with obscure protuberances 

 (rudiments of the primary leaves) at the often flat or slightly concave 

 apex, rarely with a plumule of subulate primary leaves or a distinct 

 cotyledon. — Perennial, rarely annual herbs, aquatic or terrestrial (but 

 always in wet places), with peculiar, usually utricular, contrivances for 

 the capture and digestion of small organisms. Leaves rosulate or scat- 

 tered on stolons, entire or divided, uniform or sometimes heteromorphic. 

 Inflorescences terminal or axillary, peduncled, racemose, simple, rarely 

 sparingly branched, bracteate ; lowest bracts usually bairen, adpressed ; 

 bracteoles 2 or at the base of the pedicels ; flowers very small to large, 

 often showy, yellow, purple or blue. 



Species about 200, in all parts of the world, excepting arid regions. 



Calyx of 2 sepals ; utricles bladder-like, ovoid or 



globose . . . . . . . .1. Utricularia. 



Calyx deeply o-partitej utricles tubular with 2 spirally- 

 twisted arms ....... 2. Gexlisea. 



1. UTRICULARIA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. ii. 987, 



Sepals 2, free or united at the base, persistent and frequently 

 enlarged in fruit, equal or slightly unequal. Corolla 2-lipped, spurred 

 or rarely saccate ; upper lip erect, entire or emarginate to bifid ; lower 

 lip usually much larger than the upper, usually with a vaulted, often 

 much raised and 2-gibbous palate and a spreading or deflexed entire, 

 crenulate or lobed margin. Stamens 2 ; lilaments almost straight or 

 curved, short, often winged on the outer side ; anthers dorsifixed, cells 

 subdistinct or quite confluent ; pollen globose or depressed-globose, with 

 or without few to many longitudinal slits and several pores. Ovary 

 more or less globose, 1-celled ; style indistinct or distinct, but short, 

 persistent ; stigma 2-lipped, anticous lobe much larger than the often 

 obscure posticous; ovules numerous, rarely few, sessile on the free 

 central fleshy placenta, anatropous. Capsule usually globose, breaking 

 up into 2 valves or dehiscing irregularly. Seeds globose, ovoid, lenticular, 

 hemi-elliptic, truncate-pyramidal or prismatic, smooth, reticulate, 

 tubercled, glochidiate or variously winged, usually very small, ex- 

 albuminous. Embryo undifferentiated, with or without obscure pro- 

 tuberances (the beginnings of the primary leaves), rarely with a plumule 

 of 9-12 more or less subulate primary leaves. — Rootless, aquatic or 

 terrestrial or epiphytic herbs, nearly always provided with minute 

 bladder-like organs for the capture and digestion of small organisms ; 

 annual or perennial with or without a resting season ; the aquatic 

 species reproducing themselves frequently frcm special resting buds 



