Utricularia benjaminiana Oliv.

Medium sized, suspended or ± affixed, perennial aquatic. Rhizoids absent. Stolons filiform, up to 50 cm long, 0.5-1 mm thick, branched, villous, the internodes 1-10 cm long, sometimes forming pyriform tubers at the apex. Leaves numerous, 1.5-10 cm long, rather variable, the primary segments 2 (or sometimes only 1) filiform or sometimes inflated and fusiform, villous, usually forming a distinct ‘petiole’ up to 1.5 cm long, the secondary segments pinnate, each usually repeatedly dichotomously divided into numerous further segments, the ultimate segments capillary, laterally and apically minutely setulose; sometimes the secondary segments only very sparsely divided or replaced by a trap. Traps not usually numerous, mostly arising in the angle between pairs of secondary and subsequent segments, stalked, obliquely ovoid, 1-3 mm long, usually villous, the mouth lateral with 2 dorsal, setiform, branched appendages and 1 or more lateral setae, the internal glands 1 and 2 armed, the arms narrowly ellipsoid, with apex ± acute, c. 40-55 µ long and 4-5 times as long as wide, the bifids with the arms divergent, with an included angle of c. 45°. Inflorescence (chasmogamous) erect, emergent, 3-25 cm long, several, widely spaced on each plant, apparently terminal on short, somewhat swollen, villous stolon branches and bearing at the base a whorl of floats, the floats fusiform, 0.5-2.5 cm long, up to 3 mm thick, tapering at the base into a short stalk and bearing in the distal half a number of short leaf-segments; peduncle filiform, terete, glabrous, c. 0.5 mm thick. Scales absent. Bracts basifixed, ovate-deltoid; bracteoles absent. Flowers (chasmogamous) 2-10, the raceme axis elongate; pedicels erect, capillary, 2-10 mm long. Calyx lobes subequal, circular, convex, 1-1.5 mm long, not or scarcely accrescent. Corolla mauve with a yellow blotch at the base of the lower lip, or white, 1-1.5 cm long; upper lip oblong, with apex deeply 2-lobed; lower lip limb reniform, not or scarcely swollen at the base, with apex retuse or emarginate; palate with a narrow, raised, ± crenulate rim; spur botuliform with apex rounded, 0.8-1 cm long, 2.5-3.5 mm thick, straight, always longer, and usually 2-3 times as long as the lower lip. Filaments strongly curved, c. 1 mm long, the anther thecae confluent. Ovary ovoid, the ovules 3-20; style short but distinct; stigma lower lip quadrate, the upper lip minute, deltoid or obsolete. Cleistogamous flowers with very reduced corollas are frequently present, either 2-3 arising at the base of the chasmogamous peduncle among the floats or solitary on a much reduced submerged inflorescence and surrounded by a whorl of much reduced floats. Capsule ellipsoid, 2.5-3.5 mm long, circumscissile. Seeds few (sometimes only 2), lenticular, c. 1 mm in diameter, with a narrow irregular wing, the testa cells very long and narrow, curved or sinuate in outline, the anticlines raised, with a deep longitudinal groove, the periclinal walls slightly concave with numerous conspicuous transverse ridges, the thin outer cell wall punctured by numerous, small, ± circular holes. Apparently flowering more or less throughout the year.