Utricularia sandwithii Taylor (1967: 218)

Costa, Suzana M., Bittrich, Volker & Do Amaral, Maria Do Carmo E., 2016, Lentibulariaceae from the Viruá National Park in the northern Amazon, Roraima, Brazil, Phytotaxa 258 (1), pp. 1-25 : 19

18. Utricularia sandwithii Taylor (1967: 218) ( Fig. 6 : A–C)

Marsh herbs, up to 15 cm tall. Stolons and vegetative parts glabrous. Leaves (not seen). Traps lateral, dorsal appendage short and subulate, ventral appendage long with bifid apex. Inflorescence erect, up to 6-flowered, flowers up to 5 mm distant from each other. Peduncle greenish; lateral spongy floats absent. Sterile bracts ca. 3 mm, basifixed, auriculate or peltate, ovate to lanceolate or asymmetric, fimbriate (more numerous at the base). Bract ca. 3 × 1 mm, peltate, lanceolate, margin fimbriate. Bracteoles ca. 1 × 0.4 mm, basifixed, auriculate to peltate, elliptic, margin fimbriate; equal to bract and at or near the base of pedicel. Pedicels up to 2 mm long, shorter than calyx lobes. Calyx lobes equal, margin denticulate, without prominent nerves; lower lobe 3 × 4 mm, deltoid; upper lobe 4 × 3 mm, ovate, apex retuse. Corolla yellow, sometimes with reddish mark on the upper lip and spur apex; upper lip 5 × 5 mm, ovate; lower lip 7 × 8 mm, margin entire; spur ca. 6 × 1 mm, cylindrical, curved, apex acute, slightly longer than the lower lip and not forming an angle of 90º with the latter in a lateral view. Style and filaments short. Capsule globose, dehiscing by a longitudinal ventral slit. Seeds (not seen).

Distribution:— Utricularia sandwithii occurs in northern South America ( Taylor 1989). In Brazil it is only recorded for the northern region, in Roraima and Amazonas states ( Miranda et al. 2016). The species grows in humid sandy savannas ( Taylor 1989) and in the VNP occurs in areas of grassy white-sand savannas, near water bodies.

Taxonomic notes:—According to Taylor (1989), specimens of this species with leaves are rare, but the leaves are linear with an acute apex, uni-nerved and 0.3–0.4 mm wide. The author describes the seeds as numerous, ovoid with reticulate surface and oblong to elliptic testa cells. The peduncle turns blackish and the sterile bracts whitish after drying. Among the specimens collected, some presented only cleistogamous flowers; these are always smaller than the chasmogamous ones. Utricularia sandwithii differs from other species with fimbriate calyx ( U. longeciliata and U. simulans ) mainly by its peltate bracteoles, equal to the bract, and located at or near the base of the pedicel.

Specimens:— BRAZIL. Roraima, Caracaraí, Viruá National Park : PPBio grid L1 / N6, 12 September 2010, S. M. Costa 701 ( INPA!, UEC!) ; “Estrada Perdida”, 14 September 2010, S. M. Costa 729 ( INPA!, UEC!) .

Figures

FIGURE 6. Utricularia sandwithii P.Taylor A–C. flower (front, lateral—inferior lip of corolla partially removed, note the spur—and posterior views). Utricularia simulans Pilg.—D. inflorescence (detail). E. flower (front view). Utricularia subulata L.—F. inflorescence (detail); G. flower (front view). Utricularia triloba Benj.—H. inflorescence (detail of herbarium specimen, note the nerves on calyx lobes); Utricularia viscosa Spruce ex Oliv—I. inflorescence (detail). J. peltate sterile bract. K. flower (posterior view). L. fruit.