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Happy heterosepala
- Thread starter m0bius
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Ben,
I haven't had any reason to question the validity of the label...
Looking at photos of U graminifolia vs. U heterosepala, I'm not sure what the difference might be (the flowers look similar in many images). I will take a good look at my copy of Taylor's book and see what the differentiating features might be - I seem to recall something about traps being different, etc. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time I received a mislabeled plant (accidents do happen).
- Mike
p.s. This little guy is really starting to put up flower scapes now! Also, I was really surprised that the flower illustrated in these images had just recently faded - it was one month old!
I haven't had any reason to question the validity of the label...
Looking at photos of U graminifolia vs. U heterosepala, I'm not sure what the difference might be (the flowers look similar in many images). I will take a good look at my copy of Taylor's book and see what the differentiating features might be - I seem to recall something about traps being different, etc. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time I received a mislabeled plant (accidents do happen).
- Mike
p.s. This little guy is really starting to put up flower scapes now! Also, I was really surprised that the flower illustrated in these images had just recently faded - it was one month old!
Looks more like what I have as U. graminifolia. Large poofy callus kinda heart shaped. First flower on mine are about 5cm up the stem.
What I have as U. heterosepala. Much smaller poofy callus which is mostly round and has that very distinct narrow ridge that extends down the middle. The first flowers are also closer to 10-15cm up the stem.
Perhaps I will take a look in Taylor's again. It has been a while.
Tony
What I have as U. heterosepala. Much smaller poofy callus which is mostly round and has that very distinct narrow ridge that extends down the middle. The first flowers are also closer to 10-15cm up the stem.
Perhaps I will take a look in Taylor's again. It has been a while.
Tony
Good question Scott. The plants I have labelled as U. heterosepala came to me labelled as U. prehensilis. Which once they flowered was clearly wrong. I used Taylors key starting on page 305 to narrow it down to U. heterosepala, arcuata, or graminifolia
According to Taylors key the split between them is whether there are bracteoles present or not. U. heterosepala doesn't have them while the other two do. Maybe later I can have a closer look as both plants are in flower now. Perhaps I can try getting some seed on both as an additional comparison. Or look at some traps. Very hard to determine some of these features looking through a magnifying glass and comparing to taylors line drawings and written descriptions.
At the time, I looked at all the U. heterosepala and graminifolia pics from BobZs website and there was only one other picture that looked like mine in the heterosepala section. All the other pics looked like what I call U. graminifolia. A fair number of them were labelled as U. heterosepala though. So appears there is alot of confusion and potential for acquiring U. graminifolia labelled as U. heterosepala. Part of the problem is I am not 100% absolutely positive what I have is U. heterosepala either!
Tony
According to Taylors key the split between them is whether there are bracteoles present or not. U. heterosepala doesn't have them while the other two do. Maybe later I can have a closer look as both plants are in flower now. Perhaps I can try getting some seed on both as an additional comparison. Or look at some traps. Very hard to determine some of these features looking through a magnifying glass and comparing to taylors line drawings and written descriptions.
At the time, I looked at all the U. heterosepala and graminifolia pics from BobZs website and there was only one other picture that looked like mine in the heterosepala section. All the other pics looked like what I call U. graminifolia. A fair number of them were labelled as U. heterosepala though. So appears there is alot of confusion and potential for acquiring U. graminifolia labelled as U. heterosepala. Part of the problem is I am not 100% absolutely positive what I have is U. heterosepala either!
Tony
ahhh.. well. They are essentially smaller bracts. They usually appear lateral to the bract. Typically partially concealed by the bract but not always.
Have a look at the junction of the flower stem and the inflorescence. If there is just a single bract then most likely there are no bracteoles. Most likely because in some cases the bract and bracteoles are fused. In one case the bracteoles are up right behind the flower calyx.
In U. graminifolia the bracteoles are fixed at the base, much narrower and slightly shorter than the bract (which is 1mm long)
U. heterosepala bracts are 2.5-3mm long
Have a look at the junction of the flower stem and the inflorescence. If there is just a single bract then most likely there are no bracteoles. Most likely because in some cases the bract and bracteoles are fused. In one case the bracteoles are up right behind the flower calyx.
In U. graminifolia the bracteoles are fixed at the base, much narrower and slightly shorter than the bract (which is 1mm long)
U. heterosepala bracts are 2.5-3mm long
Thanks for the explanation Tony.
I am still a little unclear about flower morphology (I need to see some diagrams to make this stuff clear in my mind - bract, bracteole, etc). Based on your reading, do you think that the absence of a bracteole is a clear diagnostic? I think I can see the bracts clearly in at least one of my photos, can you offer any information based on those images?
In lieu of my bracteole 'disability' - I noted that the easiest diagnostic seems to be the trap morphology. It seems that heterosepala has much longer appendages... whereas graminifolia seems to have recurvate appendages. I have a microscope so I think I will try taking a look at the traps on my plants. Maybe this will offer some insight (at least for myself).
I like a good puzzle! But now I begin to understand why Taylor swore off Utricularia after completing his work.
- Mike "a flower is a flower, unless it's just a bract, then its outside the flower..." or something.
I am still a little unclear about flower morphology (I need to see some diagrams to make this stuff clear in my mind - bract, bracteole, etc). Based on your reading, do you think that the absence of a bracteole is a clear diagnostic? I think I can see the bracts clearly in at least one of my photos, can you offer any information based on those images?
In lieu of my bracteole 'disability' - I noted that the easiest diagnostic seems to be the trap morphology. It seems that heterosepala has much longer appendages... whereas graminifolia seems to have recurvate appendages. I have a microscope so I think I will try taking a look at the traps on my plants. Maybe this will offer some insight (at least for myself).
I like a good puzzle! But now I begin to understand why Taylor swore off Utricularia after completing his work.
- Mike "a flower is a flower, unless it's just a bract, then its outside the flower..." or something.
In your third photo showing the side view the bract would be that green thing that is covering the junction of the flower to the inflorescence. Bracteoles if present would be partly inside that bract. They would be considerably smaller and not attached to the bract.
Trap morphology is helpful as well as leaf shape and number and orientation of veins. It has been a while since I looked at traps. My U. graminifolia were tiny at the time so I didn't compare traps. Perhaps I will when I am bored ;> I mostly stuck with the bracteole situation because the main key for this section of Utricularia uses the presence/absence of bracteoles as the fork between U. graminifolia and U. heterosepala. Ideally I would like to catalog a number of other traits such as seed charactistics, traps, leaf veins etc to confirm one way or the other as to what I have.. My plants labelled U. graminifolia came to me like that and they do seem to fit with others I have seen.
If you get a chance to look in your scope. Here is a side view of the traps of the plant I have keyed out as U. heterosepala They seem to at least look kinda like the line drawing in Taylors
Tony
Trap morphology is helpful as well as leaf shape and number and orientation of veins. It has been a while since I looked at traps. My U. graminifolia were tiny at the time so I didn't compare traps. Perhaps I will when I am bored ;> I mostly stuck with the bracteole situation because the main key for this section of Utricularia uses the presence/absence of bracteoles as the fork between U. graminifolia and U. heterosepala. Ideally I would like to catalog a number of other traits such as seed charactistics, traps, leaf veins etc to confirm one way or the other as to what I have.. My plants labelled U. graminifolia came to me like that and they do seem to fit with others I have seen.
If you get a chance to look in your scope. Here is a side view of the traps of the plant I have keyed out as U. heterosepala They seem to at least look kinda like the line drawing in Taylors
Tony
AHHH oh I dunno. Took a look this morning at both my plants and they both appear to have bracteoles. So now I am just more befuddled. I attempted to self a couple flowers of my 'U. heterosepala'. Back to Taylor's key to see if there are any other possibilites...The U. graminifolia flowers are just about all gone. I will try taking a look at the traps on that plant perhaps on Sunday.
Tony
Tony
