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Utricularia dichotoma
This delicate purplish-blue flower about 7 mm wide was borne on slender smooth stalk about 10 cms tall. The petals were labiate and unequal with the larger lower petal forming a wide apron giving it the common name. The leaves were lanceolate but undiscernable in the matted growth of grass and ground cover.
Spotted growing on soft ground at the bottom of a grassy slope which has a tendency to become boggy after rains.
An Australian species, this plant belongs to a group that is commonly called bladderwort. These plants are highly specialised; they feed on microorganisms like protozoans and rotifers in water-logged soils by trapping them in bladders that are seen in runner stolons.
The delicate plants are easy to miss if growing in small patches and if the flowers are solitary. The inflorescence is usually a raceme with many flowers on the stalk.
The Wikipedia reference has interesting information on reproduction and carnivory.
https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/pro...
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lentibulariaceae
Spotted on Nov 3, 2020
Submitted on Nov 3, 2020
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