Utricularia costata Taylor (1986: 7)

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 : 10-12

5. Utricularia costata Taylor (1986: 7) ( Fig. 3 : D–E)

Marsh herbs, up to 5 cm tall. Stolons and vegetative parts glabrous. Leaves (not seen); traps lateral, with a short dorsal appendage and a bifid ventral appendage. Inflorescence erect, 2–3-flowered, flowers up to 1 cm distant from each other. Peduncle greenish; lateral spongy floats absent. Sterile bracts up to 0.5 mm, basifixed, lanceolate, margins entire, equally distributed. Bract and bracteoles 0.5 × 0.5 mm, basifixed, lanceolate, apex acute, margins entire. Pedicels up to 2 mm long, shorter than the calyx lobes. Calyx lobes distinct in size and shape, margins entire, nearly 8 prominent nerves each; upper lobe 2 × 1 mm, ovate to elliptic, apex rounded; lower lobe 3 × 1.5 mm, oblong-lanceolate and boatshaped, apex rounded or irregular. Corolla lilac with a white and yellow/orange mark on the lower lip; upper lip 2 × 1.5 mm, ovate; lower lip 2 × 3 mm, obtriangular, trilobed, lobes with apex rounded; spur nearly 3.5 × ca. 1 mm, cylindrical with a throat near the rounded apex, longer than the lower lip of corolla and not forming an angle of 90º with the latter in lateral view. Style and filaments short. Capsule ovoid, dehiscing by a ventral longitudinal slit. Seeds ovoid, surface reticulate, testa cells ovate to polygonal.

Distribution:— Utricularia costata occurs in the northern region of South America ( Taylor 1989). In Brazil it is found in the northern, central-western and northeastern regions ( Miranda et al. 2016) and supposedly has a larger distribution ( Taylor 1989). This species grows in areas of humid soils in savannas and between rocks ( Taylor 1989). In the VNP it is present in grassy white-sand savannas with saturated soil.

Taxonomic notes:—According to Taylor (1989), the leaves of this species are alternate, filiform, ca. 0.2 mm wide and uni-nerved. It is distinguishable by its tiny size (up to 5 cm) and the presence of prominent nerves on the calyx lobes, some characters that distinguish U. costata from very small individuals of U. amethystina , and by the the trilobed lower corolla lip.

Specimens:— BRAZIL. Roraima, Caracaraí, Viruá National Park: PPBio grid, 24 July 2010, T.D.M. Barbosa

1320, S.M. Costa (UEC!).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Utricularia breviscapa C.Wright ex Griseb. A. habit. Utricularia chiribiquetensis Fernandez-Pérez—B. flower and fruit enclosed by the calyx (lateral view); C. trap. Utricularia costata P.Taylor—D. habit. E. flower (view from the top). Utricularia cucculata A.St.-Hil. & Girard—F. habit. G–H. flower (front view of purple and white and pale-pink variants), I. flower (lateral view). Utricularia foliosa L.—J. flower (front view). K. flower (front view, reproductive parts evident). L. fruits.