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U. microcalyx?


vic brown

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I obtained this species from Reading University in spring, after spotting it lurking, and politely asked for a little clump. This week it has just started flowering, a nice, early Christmas present.

I'm aware of the recent controversy over some pictures of this species, see http://www.humboldt.edu/~rrz7001/Utricularia.html, under this species.

Lacking any clear photographs which definitively show the flower of this species, coupled with the fact that my copy of Taylor's monograph is wrapped up for Christmas, I'm posting a few shots here for discussion and help with confirming it's ID. Sorry if the pictures are a littkle blurry, but I couldn't wait days for the ideal sunlight to appear!

microcalyx2.jpg

microcalyx3.jpg

microcalyx4.jpg

Vic

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Vic,

Those are great photos! I think the consensus from other discussions on microcalyx boiled down to whether trap morphology conformed to what was in Taylor. It seems that the floristic characteristics for this section of utricularia are too fluid to rely on them for a firm diagnostic. Pull out a stolon and examine it under 20-40x lens on Christmas (while crossing your fingers) and hopefully you'll have microcalyx.

Your microcalyx seems to closely resemble the examples under dispute, but again the only way to find out for sure would be to examine the traps.

Check out the following site for pics of many different terrestial utrics:

http://www.plantarara.com/carnivoren_galer...utricularia.htm

The microcalyx shown there looks very different from the examples shown on the humboldt.edu site. Which may mean nothing at all if the pic isn't of microcalyx either!

I have obtained four specimens from different sources and whittled down two of them based on trap morphology...the other two appear to conform to Taylors description. I'm hopeful, but I think they may be livida also...we will see.

On a side note...I read somewhere that microcalyx flowers have a pleasant odor. Is there any smell from your flowers?

Peace and good luck,

Damon

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That looks like the same plant as I have. It seems to be a particularly strange form of U. livida.

Even out out of flower the traps it should be easy determine that it is not U. microcalyx based on trap shape (It should only have a few long hairs, rather than a many shorter bushy hairs).

Looking at the calyx - the upper lobe should be only 1-2 mm long, with the lower one slightly shorter. Both lobes should be roughly circular and have a distinct notch. (The plant I have has calyx lobes that are about 3mm long, not rounded and have entire margins).

The bumps on the palate margin also rule out U. microcalyx, as does the upper corolla lip that is constricted above the middle, and wider at the top.

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Thanks for the replies guys :) I'll be digging out some traps and examining them under my toy microscope soon.

Does anyone have a link to the other discussion? I tried searching for it yesterday, without success. To be honest, I can't remember if it was posted here at CPUK, on Terraforums or on the Listserve, but I wouldn't mind reading it again.

Cheers

Vic

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  • 6 months later...

Hi,

In the last days i have taken pictures of some traps from my Utricularia. Here are some pictures i have taken from my U. microcalyx and U. livida 'Mexico'. If i compare the traps with those shown in Taylor, at least my plant, is not Utricularia microcalyx but rather Utricularia livida as suspected here.

microcalyx_UTRI25_003_30062004.jpg microcalyx_UTRI25_005_30062004.jpg

Utricularia microcalyx

livida_UTRI29_004_28062004.jpg

Utricularia livida 'Mexiko'

Christian

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Hi

The trap morphology doesn't mach with U. microcalyx, according to Taylor. The closely related

species are U. livida, U. arenaria and U. sandersonii. Could be a form of U. arenaria rather than U. livida or maybe an hybrid.

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I know it's not U. microcalyx and based on Christian's excellent trap photos, a form of U. livida, or a very closely related species, seems most likely. Bob Ziemer has built up quite a collection of links to photos of 'U. microcalyx', all of which look similar to my plant as well as links to this discussion and the one on the ICPS Listserve; http://www.humboldt.edu/~rrz7001/Utricularia.html

Despite the widespread discussion of this Utric, here and elswhere on the web, this little lovely Utric was still being offered for sale as U. microcalyx at the ICPS Conference in Lyon!

I don't know if Peter Taylor is still active. I think he retired not long after the publication of his monograph in 1989. The CPS is holding a meeting at Kew Gardens in a couple of weeks, I'll ask around then. Perhaps someone will know if he can be contacted.

Vic

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Guys!!

After taking a look in Taylor's monograph, my vote goes for U.livida! U.microcalyx is definitely out judging by those traps. And the corolla shape does not match that pf U.livida. A very nice form of U.livida indeed! :):)

Take Care,

Fernando Rivadavia

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  • 4 months later...

Looks exactly like the 'U. microcalyx' that I have (which appears to key out to U. livida in Taylors).

Here is my photo..

They are more blue looking than the picture indicates. More like the ones in your photo. They are also blooming their little heads off this time of year.

Wasn't there some discussion on the listserve that it could potentially be a hybrid between U. livida (or another species) and U. sandersonii?? Anyone know more about that or seen any other U. sandersonii hybrids?

Umicrocalyx_livida.jpg

Tony

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  • 2 weeks later...
As the flower of U. livida is quite variable it seems to be nearly impossible to say if the plant is a livida or something else. The trap seems to be the best indicator.

To repeat, the trap is the definitive difference. Rico showed a trap of U. livida. Here is a comparison between the traps of U. livida and U. microcalyx.

livida_microcalyx.jpg

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  • 7 months later...
  • 3 months later...

Hello,

the plant I got as U. microcalyx started to flower - very similar to those flowers above. I had a closer look at some of the morphological details relevant for a taxonomic classification. I came to the same conclusion as others above that this plant could not be microcalyx, but I believe it's not u. livida either. It seems to belong to sect. Calpidisca, and there are three plants - esp. because of the trap shape - that I took to comparison: arenaria, livida, and sandersonii. I excluded bisquamata because of the smaller number of trap appendages.

front6rv.jpgside9bz.jpgview2nb.jpg

leaves8tc.jpgtrap11yz.jpgtrap25vv.jpg

scale0cd.jpgbract8wc.jpgbracteole15tx.jpgbracteole25jj.jpgcalyx2ye.jpg

(scale, bract, bracteoles, lower calyx )

I don't think it's livida mainly because of two reasons (among others): the inflorescence is rel. short and bears only few flowers, like sandersonii and arenaria and unlike livida. And the leaves are all - even the broadest ones - single-nerved like arenaria, whereas I always found multiple-nerved leaves (next to single-nerved ones) in both my livida and sandersonii plants.

Corolla and calxy reminds me on sandersonii, because of the long, slender, curved spur (both livida and arenaria have thicker, rel. shorter and not curved spurs), the face like color structure of the lower lip and the notched lower calyx lobe (arenaria: no notch; livida: if at all then only very slightly notched).

Of course sandersonii doesn't match here either because of its white corolla and its strongly divided upper lip, whereas this plant has a more rounded, not divided upper lip like arenaria has (and some forms of livida as well). Another point that speaks against sandersonii and for livida/arenaria are the wrinkled crests on the lower lip base that is found in arenaria and livida but not in sandersonii, and the rel. broad bracts that would also match with arenaria/livida, but not sandersonii (slender ones, similar to the bracteoles).

The plants have few, quite large scales compared to the bracts- like arenaria and unlike livida ( that has mostly many scales) and sandersonii (that has also few but comp. smaller or even no scales at all).

I suggest this plant could be a hybrid of sandersonii and arenaria. I feel like having neglected bisquamata a bit in my thoughts - in a hybrid theory it could play a role as well. But nevertheless, these are just some first ideas. Any discussion is very welcome!

Thanks and regards

Martin

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