Utricularia nana Saint-Hilaire & Girard (1838: 869)

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 : 17

15. Utricularia nana Saint-Hilaire & Girard (1838: 869) ( Fig. 5 : G–I)

Marsh herbs, up to 2 cm tall. Stolons and vegetative parts glabrous. Leaves ca. 1 mm wide, obovate, uninerved. Traps lateral, without appendages. Inflorescence 1-flowered (rarely 2-flowered). Peduncle pink, brown or black; lateral inflated appendages absent. Sterile bracts absent. Bract 1–1.5 × 1–1.5 mm, basifixed, ovate, apex acute to rounded, 0–1-nerved. Bracteoles 1 × 1 mm, basifixed, triangular, nerves absent to uninerved. Pedicels ca. 2 mm long, as long as the lower calyx lobe; pedicel remains straight during flowering, becoming curved in fruit. Calyx lobes distinct in shape, both with entire margin and nearly five prominent nerves each; upper lobe ca. 3 × 1 mm, triangular, apex acute; lower lobe ca.4 × 2 mm, triangular, apex entire. Corolla yellow; upper lip 1 × 1 mm, obovate, apex bilobed; lower lip 3–4 × 3 mm, elliptic to obovate, obscurely bilobed; spur ca.4 × 1 mm, conical, apex acute, longer than the lower corolla lip and forming an angle of ca. 90° with the latter in a lateral view. Style and filaments short. Capsule ovate to globose, dehiscing by a ventral longitudinal slit. Seeds (not seen).

Distribution:—This is the first record of U. nana in Roraima. It is distributed in South America ( Taylor 1989) and recorded for the northern, northeastern, central-western, southeastern and southern Brazilian regions ( Miranda et al. 2016). It grows in swampy ground close to streams and sandy savannas ( Taylor 1989). In the VNP we collected this species in an area of grassy white-sand savanna.

Taxonomic notes:—According to Taylor (1989), the seeds of this species are numerous, globose to ovoid with a reticulate surface of irregularly circular testa cells. During flowering, the inflorescences (peduncle, pedicel and calyx) are blackish, becoming pinkish during fruiting. Utricularia nana differs from other species by the proportions of the corolla (upper lip much shorter than the lower lip) and by the angle of 90° between the lower lip and the spur of the corolla.

Specimens:— BRAZIL. Roraima, Caracaraí, Viruá National Park: PPBio grid L1/ N6, 12 November 2010, S.M. Costa 699, T.D.M. Barbosa (INPA!, UEC!).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Utricularia longeciliata A.DC. A. inflorescence (detail). B–C. flower (lateral view and view from the top). Utricularia myriocista A.St.-Hil. & Girard—D–E. habit. F. open flower (front view) and fruit. Utricularia nana A.St.-Hil & Girard—G. habit. H. flower (lateral view). I. habit in fruit. Utricularia olivacea Wright & Girard—J. habit. K. flower (front view). Utricularia pusilla Vahl—L. inflorescence (detail).