Flora of Peninsular Malaysia Online - Newsletter subscription page Volume 29/3 2009 Posted: April 17, 2009 Worldwide, Utricularia punctata occurs in lakes, swamps and slow-flowing rivers from Myanmar to China and Borneo. In Peninsular Malaysia, it is only known from Tasek Bera, Tasek Cini, the backwaters of Sg. Pahang and Kota Tinggi. Unlike the common Floating Bladderwort, Utricularia aurea, U. punctata has never been observed to colonise disturbed or man-made habitats, although it is a sun-loving species and is found abundantly in the slowflowing parts of Tasek Bera, the largest natural lake in the peninsula. Its leaves are divided from the base into 2 – 3 primary segments. Each segment is 2 – 6 cm long, elliptic in outline and further divided into thread-like pinnules. At first glance the floating leaf masses resemble those of the common Utricularia aurea, but can easily be distinguished from U. aurea by the conspicuously zigzagged primary axis of the leaf segments. The oblique traps are not numerous and often absent from many or most of the leaves. The delicate, pink flowers are unmistakable. There are 6 – 12 flowers on each erect inflorescence. Sometimes a small number of short, inflated stolons radiate from the base of the peduncle to aid it in staying afloat. The corolla could be lilac, violet, pink or white, but always with a yellow blotch on the lower lip that marks the entrance into the throat of a narrowly conical spur. The specific epithet of Utricularia punctata possibly refers to its spotted flower. The fruit of Utricularia punctata, an ellipsoid capsule about 5 mm long, is green with purplish variegations. Mature fruits are always held erect, and not pendant as in Utricularia aurea. The seeds are unique for Utricularia as their margins are winged. Six to twelve of these flattish seeds are held imbricate on a placenta in the fruit, which dehisces by longitudinal dorsal and ventral slits on the membranous fruit wall. The structure of the irregular, deeply and conspicuously dentate wings prove no help in keeping the seeds airborne, therefore they presumably function to keep the seeds afloat in the slow-flowing water for dispersal over longer distances. file:////192.168.0.4/tfbc/Subscribe29.html (1 of 3) [4/17/2009 8:39:07 AM] Flora of Peninsular Malaysia Online - Newsletter subscription page Peter Taylor who wrote the taxonomic monograph for Utricularia in 1989 presumed the species to flower freely all year round as in the case of the common Utricularia aurea. However, field observations in Tasek Bera showed that flowers were produced only at the end of the monsoon season, specifically, after the flood waters, which inundated the lake up to several metres, had subsided. By Chew Ming Yee e- m ail: chew@frim .gov.m y :: UPD ATED PH OTOS - Ava ila ble N OW a t Flor a of Pe n in su la r M a la ysia On lin e Aeginetia pedunculata Appendicula lucida Arundina graminifolia Anoectochilus albolineatus Acrosorus streptophyllus Chirita involucrata Congea griffithiana Ctenopteris blechnoides Dipterocarp semivestitus Davallia denticulata Eria pannea Equisetum ramosissimum Galearia fulva Grammitis congener Grammitis multifolia Loxogramme scolopendrioides Lasianthus constrictus Paranephelium macrophyllum/span> Pandanus helicopus Phrynium parvum Prosaptia alata Prosaptia contigua Selaginella roxburghi Selaginella delicatula Selaginella stipulata Selaginella alutacia Selaginella mayeri Selaginella intermedia Selaginella cuprea Selaginella plana Selaginella wallichii Selaginella wildenowii Schizaea dichotoma Shorea macrantha Shorea hemsleyana Sterculia rubiginosa Utricularia punctata Vaccinium viscifolium Vatica flavida Xiphopteris sparsipilosa Membership: 704 Plant profiles: 8893 Photo-illustrated taxa: 1620 Full-sized, high-resolution formats of all photo-illustrations in Flora of Peninsular Malaysia Online may be licensed from the Tropical Forest Biodiversity Centre, Forest Research Institute Malaysia. Please contact us for details; Remember that you can save your hit list as a Microsoft Excel File; Upon registration, you will receive the Electronic FPM newsletter at your designated e-mail address. To submit questions, comments or suggestions, e-mail: floraonline@frim.gov.my file:////192.168.0.4/tfbc/Subscribe29.html (2 of 3) [4/17/2009 8:39:07 AM] Flora of Peninsular Malaysia Online - Newsletter subscription page Tropical Forest Biodiversit y Cent re Forest ry Division, Forest Research I nst it ut e Malaysia ( FRI M) 52109 Kepong, Selangor Darul Ehsan, MALAYSI A. ht t p: / / www.t fbc.frim .gov.m y Tel: + 60- 3- 6279 7219 Fax: + 60- 3- 6273 1041 E- m ail: floraonline@frim .gov.m y All rights reserved. Copyright©2004 file:////192.168.0.4/tfbc/Subscribe29.html (3 of 3) [4/17/2009 8:39:07 AM]