Utricularia pusilla Vahl (1804: 202)

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

17. Utricularia pusilla Vahl (1804: 202) ( Fig. 5 : M)

Marsh herbs, up to 10 cm tall. Stolons and vegetative parts glabrous. Leaves nearly 1.5 mm wide, obovate. Traps lateral, pair of dorsal appendages with septate hairs. Inflorescence erect, up to 5-flowered, flowers nearly 2 cm distant from each other; with sterile bracts between the flowers. Peduncle green; lateral spongy floats absent. Sterile bracts 1–1.2 × 1–1.2 mm, peltate, circular to elliptic, margin entire, equally distributed. Bract 0.5–1 × 0.5–1 mm, peltate, circular to elliptic. Bracteoles absent. Pedicels 2–5 mm long, longer than the calyx lobes. Calyx lobes equal or nearly so, margin entire, 6–8 prominent nerves; upper lobe 1–2 × 1–1.5 mm, orbicular; lower lobe 2.5–3 × 2 mm, orbicular to elliptic, apex retuse. Corolla yellow; upper lip 2–2.5 × 1.5–2 mm, ovate, apex rounded; lower lip 2–4 × 4 mm, trilobed, lobes with rounded apex; spur 4–5 × 1 mm, cylindrical to conical, apex acute, generally longer than the lower corolla lip and not forming an angle of 90º with the latter in lateral view. Style and filaments short. Capsule globose, dehiscing by a pore. Seeds crescent-shaped, testa cells elongate and arranged parallel to the longer seed axis.

Distribution:— Utricularia pusilla occurs in North, Central and South America ( Taylor 1989). In Brazil the species occurs in the northern, northeastern, central-western and southeastern regions ( Miranda et al. 2016), where it grows in humid sandy savannas ( Taylor 1989). In the VNP it occurs in areas of grassy and arboreal white-sand savannas.

Taxonomic notes:—It differs from other species by the presence of sterile bracts between the flowers, by the lower lobe of the calyx longer than the superior lobe in fruit, and the spur always longer than the lower corolla lip.

Specimens:— BRAZIL. Roraima, Caracaraí, Viruá National Park : PPBio grid L1 / N2 - N3, 12 September 2010, S. M. Costa 691, T.D. M. Barbosa ( INPA!, UEC!) ; L1 / N2 - N312 September 2010, S. M. Costa 692, T.D. M. Barbosa ( INPA!, UEC!) ; PPBio grid L3 / N2, 13 September 2010, S. M. Costa 714, T.D. M. Barbosa ( INPA!, UEC!) ; PPBio grid L3 / N4, 24 January 2011, S. M. Costa 860, K. G. Cangani ( INPA!, UEC!) ; PPBio grid, 24.VIII.2010, T.D. M. Barbosa 1301, S. M. Costa ( 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).