on Utricularia vulgaris has appeared;* and it has been no small
satisfaction to me to find that my account agrees almost completely
with that of this distinguished observer. I will publish my description
as it stood before reading that by Prof. Cohn, adding occasionally some
statements on his authority.
FIG. 17. (Utricularia neglecta.) Branch with the divided leaves bearing
bladders; about twice enlarged.
Utricularia neglecta.—The general appearance of a branch (about twice
enlarged), with the pinnatifid leaves bearing bladders, is represented
in the above sketch (fig. 17). The leaves continually bifurcate, so
that a full-grown one terminates in from twenty to thirty
* ‘Beitrage zur Biologie der Plflanzen’ drittes Heft, 1875. [page 397]
points. Each point is tipped by a short, straight bristle; and slight
notches on the sides of the leaves bear similar bristles. On both
surfaces there are many small papillae, crowned with two hemispherical
cells in close contact. The plants float near the surface of the water,
and are quite destitute of roots, even during the earliest period of
growth.* They commonly inhabit, as more than one observer has remarked
to me, remarkably foul ditches.
The bladders offer the chief point of interest. There are often two or
three on the same divided leaf, generally near the base; though I have
seen a single one growing from the stem. They are supported on short
footstalks. When fully grown, they are nearly 1/10 of an inch (2.54
mm.) in length. They are translucent, of a green colour, and the walls
are formed of two layers of cells. The exterior cells are polygonal and
rather large; but at many of the points where the angles meet, there
are smaller rounded cells. These latter support short conical
projections, surmounted by two hemispherical cells in such close
apposition that they appear united; but they often separate a little
when immersed in certain fluids. The papillae thus formed are exactly
like those on the surfaces of the leaves. Those on the same bladder
vary much in size; and there are a few, especially on very young
bladders, which have an elliptical instead of a circular outline. The
two terminal cells are transparent, but must hold much matter in
solution, judging from the quantity coagulated by prolonged immersion
in alcohol or ether.
* I infer that this is the case from a drawing of a seedling given by
Dr. Warming in his paper, “Bidrag til Kundskaben om Lentibulariaceae,”
from the ‘Videnskabelige Meddelelser,’ Copenhagen, 1874, Nos. 3-7, pp.
33-58.) [page 398]
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