New Zealand Journal of Botany abstracts
Ecology and vegetative morphology of the carnivorous plant Utricularia
dichotoma (Lentibulariaceae) in New Zealand
MARKUS S. REUT
Institut de Botanique
Université de Neuchâtel
Rue Emile-Argand 9
CH-2007 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
BRIAN A. FINERAN
Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch, New Zealand
Abstract The occurrence of the carnivorous plant
Utricularia dichotoma (including
U. monanthos and
U.
novae-zelandiae) within different habitats throughout New Zealand was
studied. Qualitative investigations on its ecology focused on plant
sociological criteria and soil characters, including the qualitative amount of
water and soil chemistry. A list of associated plant species is also provided.
Results indicate that
U. dichotoma prefers open wet habitats. Once
established, however, it may grow in fertile and permanently submerged sites.
The vegetative morphology of the species from different populations was also
examined and correlated with ecological factors.
Utricularia dichotoma
basically consists of runner stolons, from each node of which arise various
combinations of leaves, bladders (traps), and anchor and runner stolons. Plants
of some populations also show simply branched, bladder-bearing intermediate
types of anchor and runner stolons (designated "simple stolons"). Some nodes of
runner stolons support the development of a peduncle. In the populations
studied, the onset of a dry sunny period was typically followed by flowering.
Plants from Kopouatai Peat Dome exhibited certain distinctive morphological
features not found in other populations, including more bladders per plant.
Among the populations studied, the corolla, peduncle, foliage leaf, and
bladders occasionally exhibited a reddish or purple pigmentation, apparently
developed in a response to different environmental factors.
Keywords Utricularia dichotoma; Lentibulariaceae;
carnivorous plant; vegetative morphology; anthocyanins; stolon; traps;
vegetation ecology; wetlands
B98046
Received 14 July 1998; accepted 25 November 1999
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