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Common bladderwort

Utricularia vulgaris

Also called Greater bladderwort, Common Butterwort

Common bladderwort
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Veledan~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain

Common bladderwort is a free-floating aquatic carnivorous plant with no true roots, catching small water animals in tiny bladder traps on its finely divided leaves. Grow it in still or slow water with plenty of sun; it is grown mainly in ponds and aquariums.

Family
Lentibulariaceae (Lentibulari family)
Grows as
Aquatic
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep it free-floating in still or slow-moving water; it needs no watering from above.
Soil
No soil needed; it floats in water and does not root in the substrate.
Temperature
10–25 °C; it dies back and forms winter buds (turions) in cold weather.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Europe to Siberia and Tibet, NW. Africa
Climate
temperate

About

Utricularia vulgaris (greater bladderwort or common bladderwort) is an aquatic species of bladderwort found in Asia and Europe. The plant is free-floating and does not put down roots. Stems can attain lengths of over one metre in a single growing season, but die back and form turions in winter. The leaves are finely pinnately divided, between one and eight centimetres long and carry many bladder-like traps. The yellow flowers are borne on stalks above the surface of the water between April and August. In eastern Asia and North America, its place is taken by the related species U. macrorhiza.

Other Utricularia plants

Utricularia adpressa · Utricularia albiflora · Utricularia albocaerulea · Utricularia alpina · Utricularia ameliae · Florida purple bladderwort · Utricularia andongensis · Utricularia antennifera · Utricularia appendiculata · Utricularia arcuata · Utricularia arenaria · Utricularia arnhemica

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Utricularia vulgaris by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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