U.warmingii - 1st picture know of a rare and unique Utric

[Fernando Rivadavia 77]

Hello everyone,

My good friend Marcos Cardoso from Cuiabá (W Brazil) discovered yet another rare Utric: U.warmingii!!

He was recently again in the Poconé region, where he also discovered the rare U.poconensis a few years ago:

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=26930&st=0&p=217398&hl=poconensis&fromsearch=1entry217398

To reach the spot where he found U.warmingii, it was 7 km on horseback with water up to the horses heels the whole time (the Pantanal Basin is mostly flooded at this time of year). In the same area he says he also found U.hydrocarpa, U.foliosa, U.cucullata & 2 terrestrial U.sp with yellow flowers

I've never seen U.warmingii before, but I've admired it for over 20 years in Peter Taylor's monograph. Here's his description:

Any of you notice what's so unique about this plant? The hugely tumesced base of the flower scape!! This structure has fascinated me and I've wanted to see it live and feel it between my fingers. Well at least now I can see them in Marcos' pictures...

So without further delay, here's the never before seen pic of U.warmingii:

Incredible, huh??? I'm fascinated to see that the flower is mostly white, with only the base of the lower lip yellow. Taylor says the flower is pale yellow. I wonder if maybe I've seen this species before off in the distance in the Pantanal, but dismissed it as a Utric? Or maybe I've even held flowerless stolons in my hands and didn't realize they belonged to this species?

Marcos told me that the site where he found this plant dries up completely in the winter, confirming what Taylor wrote about U.warmingii, that it is an annual. Also, I noticed that the tumescent structure in the center of the pic seems to have two flower scapes arising from it. Taylor only shows one...

More photos as soon as Marcos sends them my way!

All the best,

Fernando

Edited June 18, 2011 by Fernando Rivadavia

[moof 1]

Thanks for sharing the photo (I hope for more!). Very interesting species, I didn't hear about it before!

Peter

[mobile 469]

Thank you for sharing pictures of this fascinating species. The structure at the base of the flower looks like someone has tied a plastic bag to it I envy the journey that Marcos made, as while it may have taken the whole day, I bet that the scenery was stunning.

[Kevin Tonnerre 0]

You always bring most fascinating information and reports to the community, thanks for all that!

[gardenofeden 236]

wow

[Miloslav Macháček 11]

Wow! I... wow... thanks for sharing!! I haven't heard about it before. Really beautiful and interresting species!

[mrAlmond 0]

This utric is fantastic...could that "balloons" be used by the plant to help flowers to float on the water surface?

[-Xeno- 4]

Very interesting utric, thanks for sharing!

[maurizio 49]

Really stunning!

Grazie Fernando

[James O'Neill 42]

A very interesting utric indeed. Thanks Carlos, yet again.

[kisscool_38 127]

Wahoo! That's a really nice and interesting species. The pedicel looks like a floating organ from other aquatic species such as Utricularia inflata. Thanks for sharing this discovery.

Edited February 21, 2018 by kisscool_38

[Christian 102]

Hi,

that's really interesting. Many thanks for sharing the pictures with us! Can't wait for some more pictures ;)

Christian

[Fernando Rivadavia 77]

I'm glad you're all enjoying it as much as I did. :) I'm so happy to finally see what this plant look like!!

Anyway, here are the other photos Marcos took...

The habitat:

U.warmingii

[Fernando Rivadavia 77]

U.warmingii & U.hydrocarpa:

U.hydrocarpa:

U.foliosa:

U.warmingii, U.hydrocarpa & U.foliosa:

U.myriocista (it wasn't U.cucullata):

U.lloydii:

U.pusilla?:

Enjoy!

Fernando

[Guest Andreas Eils]

An extraordinary and particularly extraordinary beautiful Utricularia species!

[moof 1]

Thanks for the other photos, a very interesting place and Utricularia species.

Peter

[Miloslav Macháček 11]

Again some great pictures of wonderful plants. Especially U.myriocista looks amazing too!

[amphirion 16]

very nice photos Fernando! Thank Marco for us for allowing you to share these pics with us! that flower base structure reminds me very much of those air bladder structures we find on kelp...i guess that structure helps keep the flower afloat?

[Nicole 13]

WOW! I don't know what to say.... so many rare species...

[Fernando Rivadavia 77]

Hello again everyone, I've got new pictures from Marcos!

Here's one of him (center) during this latest expedition to the Pantanal:

And here's what he goes there to do, monitor nesting areas of aquatic birds:

The Pantanal is a whole other world!!!! :)

All the Best,

Fernando

P.S. Amphirion, yes they do look like kelp! As far as we can tell, they're floatation devices to help keep the flowers above the water no matter what.

[Fernando Rivadavia 77]

Hello everyone,

Here's an update on this topic. In early October my friend Marcos Cardoso returned to the site of U.warmingii in the northern Pantanal flood basin. This is late in the dry season, so I thought you may be interested in seeing what the habitat looks like during this time of year.

Just to remind you though, here's an areal pic of the site during the wet season, when the ranch is flooded, with an arrow indicating the spot where the plants were found:

And now pics of the same spot taken during Marcos' visit in early October 2011:

Yep, I guess that means that all those species grow as annuals at that spot. :)

Best wishes,

Fernando Rivadavia

[Daniel O. 62]

It´s really hard to believe that there is such a big difference in the humidity during the year.

Best regards,

Daniel

[Fernando Rivadavia 77]

Hello everyone,

Marcos just sent me some new pics!! He returned to this site I think in April of last year, here they are:

And here is Marcos standing in the seasonally flooded habitat:

Hope you liked it! ;-)

Fernando Rivadavia

Edited January 11, 2014 by Fernando Rivadavia

[Fernando Rivadavia 77]

P.S. I just noticed something really cool in the pic below:

Notice that Marcos broke one of the fat scapes, and.... it's hollow!!! For whatever reason, I was under the false impression that it was some kind of aerenchyma instead. But it has really thin walls and is really just a big air balloon.

Cool, huh???? :)

All the best,

Fernando Rivadavia

[Daniel O. 62]

Thanks for the new pictures.

So these fat scapes seem to give the flower buoyancy, really interesting.

Best regards,

Dani