Utricularia ochroleuca

Cream-flowered bladderwort, Cream-Flowered Bladderwort

Family: Lentibulariaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Cream-flowered bladderwort is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains, Cascade Range highlands, and Modoc Plateau in Plumas, El Dorado, and Modoc counties, inhabiting shallow acidic waters at elevations of 1,300 to 2,400 meters. Flowering from June to September, this aquatic plant produces cream-colored flowers with a distinctive lower lip nearly twice the size of the upper lip. Growing with two types of stems—some freely floating and green with leaves and few bladders, others rooted in mud and white without leaves—it creates a unique underwater structure. Its leaves are 5 to 15 millimeters long, intricately 3-parted at the base and variously dissected, with ultimate segments less than 20 and linear in shape. During winter, the plant produces bristly buds that help it survive in challenging aquatic environments.

Habitat: Shallow (generally < 30 cm) acidic waters

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 1300-2400 m

Bioregions: CaRH (Plumas Co.), n SNH (El Dorado Co.), MP (Modoc Co.)

California counties: Plumas, 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.