Utricularia gibba

Gibbous bladderwort

Family: Lentibulariaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Gibbous bladderwort is a native perennial found in northern and central California Floristic Province in shallow waters, mud surfaces, and deep water mats at elevations of 10 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from July to September, this aquatic plant produces small flowers with delicate yellow or white corollas 6 to 15 millimeters long. Growing with thread-like stems that form loose, creeping mats in water, it develops intricate forked leaves typically 2 to 15 millimeters long with thread-like ultimate segments. Its unique adaptation includes tiny bladders throughout the stems, which help the plant capture and digest microscopic aquatic organisms. The plant's winter survival strategy involves no specialized winter buds, allowing it to remain active in its aquatic environments.

Habitat: Shallow water, mud, mat-forming at surface of deep waters or not

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: 10-2300 m

Bioregions: n&ampc CA-FP.

California counties: Butte, Lake, Fresno, Mendocino, Sacramento, Yuba, Tehama, Contra Costa, Tuolumne, Sonoma, San Joaquin, El Dorado

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.