Volume 11 > Part 1 > Year 2011 > Page 28 > Lentibulariaceae > Utricularia

11. Utricularia geoffrayi Pellegr.

Bull. Mus. Natl. Nat. Hist. 26: 181. 1920; Pellegr. in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 4: 481. 1930; P.Taylor in Dansk Bot. Ark. 23: 529. 1968; Maxwell in Songklanakarin J. Sci. Technol. 7: 416. 1985; P.Taylor, Kew Bull. Addit. Ser. 14: 177. 1989.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Terrestrial. Stolons infrequent, filiform. Rhizoides numerous filiform, unbranched. Floats absent. Leaves long petiolate and narrowly obovate, almost linear, 1–1.5 cm long. Auricles absent. Traps usually few, mostly on leaves and rhizoids, ca 0.4 mm long; mouth lateral, with 2 rows of glandular hairs near the stalk and a single appendage on the opposite side of the mouth. Internal hairs 2-armed. Inflorescence erect, solitary, (3–)10–15(–28) cm long; peduncle hairless, thin, fragile and sometimes somewhat zig-zag near apex; usually 3–7(–15)-flowered; flowers widely spaced, usually held such that mouth of the flower is horizontal. Scales frequent, similar to bracts. Bracts attached at the base, narrowly ovate, 1–3 mm long, sometimes almost acuminate. Bracteoles similar, but usually smaller. Pedicels <1 mm in flower. Calyx lobes subequal, ca 1.7–3 mm long on flowering, either obtuse or acute, the lower sometimes emarginate or trifid, both with 5–7 prominent nerves. Corolla usually blue or purple, rarely white, 4–6 mm long; upper lip subparallel to lower lip, ± horizontal, and much smaller, palate sometimes yellow; spur ca 3 mm long, subparallel to lower lip. Seeds ovoid, smooth; ca 0.2 mm.

Thailand : NORTH-EASTERN: Loei, Sakhon Nakhon, Mukdahan; EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima; SOUTH-EASTERN: Prachin Buri, Chon Buri, Chanthaburi, Trat.

Distribution : Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam.

Ecology : In wet places, often on sandy soil, occasionally on rocks, in paddy fields and in wet places in deciduous dipterocarp and evergreen forests, 20–1,400 m alt. Flowering and fruiting: mainly from September through till December, but mainly in November and December.

Notes: All material of this species seen from the adjacent and undercollected provinces of Sakhon Nakhon & Mukdahan corresponds to the type from Cambodia and appears distinctive from most material collected from the rest of its range in Thailand. Specimens from various localities, notably Phu Kradung, differ in that: the inflorescences are less than, sometimes much less than, 10 cm in length (normally much more in the type variety); there are often many fewer flowers in an inflorescence (ca. 3–6) than in the type (though Taylor (1989) suggests the normal number to be between 3 and 6); the spur is much shorter than in type material (wherein it is usually ca 5 mm long) and forms a smaller proportion of the length of the flower as the flowers are about the same size.

The recently described Utricularia ramossissima Wakabayashi (J. Insectiv. Pl. Soc. 61: 33–38 (2010)) from Pha Taem National Park, Ubon Ratchathani, has a more highly branched inflorescence and relatively longer lower lip to the corolla than is normal in U. geoffrayi but appears doubtfully distinct at specific level.