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Introduction
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Carnivorous Plants near Kalamazoo, Michigan
The answer..... The Utricularia I saw is U. geminiscapa. This aquatic bladderwort grows in shallow water of lakes and ponds. In the U.S. the distribution is recorded in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina (according to PeterTaylor 1989). The vegetative parts can be similar to U. macrorhiza, U. gibba and U. minor and the identification may be difficult if the plants are out of flower. Like U. minor and U. intermedia, but slightly less clearly so, the stolon tends to produce two types of stolon segments ("somewhat dimorphic", according to Taylor 1989), the one mostly comprising filiform branching leaves without traps and the other bearing many traps. The yellow flower has a three-lobed lower lip, as seen in the picture.
One key characteristic of this species is the production of
numerous cleistogamous flowers commonly seen in such species as
Utricularia subulata. This is a closed flower which
pollinates itself without ever opening. In the case of U. geminiscape,
the cleistogamous flowers appear underwater, along with a normal, open
flower (chasmogamous form) which protrudes above the water surface.
A breeze was comfortable in the bog though the sun was strong.... I saw many dragon flies hovering over the grass.
So I took some pictures of a dragon fly .... I held my breath and softly squeezed my shutter button using 5 frames per second high speed motor drive. All in all, I fired about 100 shots. One came out more or less in sharp focus. (Nikon D200 with Ai Micro Nikkor 105mm F2.8 at F4, Aperture priority at ISO100, JPEG large-fine)
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