Utricularia stellaris L.F.

Medium sized to large, possibly perennial, suspended aquatic. Rhizoids absent. Stolons filiform, terete, up to 1 m long, 0.5-1.5 mm thick, sparsely branched, glabrous, the internodes 0.5-2 cm long, sometimes bearing long, capillary, air shoots, 0.2-0.4 mm thick, with apical, minute, elliptic membranous scales. Leaves very numerous, semicircular in outline, 1-6 cm long, divided from the base into 3-6, semiverticillate, primary, filiform segments, the secondary segments pinnate, alternate, each pinna dichotomously divided from the base into numerous further segments, the ultimate segments capillary, somewhat flattened, laterally and apically setulose; stipule-like auricles usually present at the base of the primary segments, the auricles approximately circular in outline, hyaline, divided dichotomously into numerous, densely setulose segments. Traps usually numerous, lateral on the secondary segments, obliquely ovoid, stalked, 1-3 mm long, the mouth lateral, naked or with 2 dorsal, simple or sparsely branched, setiform appendages and sometimes with a few, simple, lateral setae, the internal glands 2-and 4-armed, the arms narrowly cylindrical with apex rounded, up to 90 µ long and up to 11 times as long as wide, the quadrifids with the longer pair slightly divergent and the shorter pair reflexed, with an included angle of c. 190°. Inflorescence erect, emergent, simple, 3-30 cm long; peduncle filiform, terete, glabrous, 0.5-1.5 mm thick, with a whorl of 3-8 spongy floats near the apex or, at least usually, considerably above the middle, the floats narrowly ovoid, 0.5-2 cm long, sessile, with the apex obtuse or subacute and bearing a few short, capillary, leaf segments at or near the apex only. Scales absent. Bracts basifixed, broadly ovate to circular, with apex obtuse or rounded, membranous, c. 2 mm long, obscurely many-nerved. Bracteoles absent. Flowers 2-12, the raceme axis short, not greatly elongating in fruit; pedicels filiform, 1-5 mm long, dorsiventrally compressed and winged, erect or spreading at anthesis, deflexing and ± elongating and widening in fruit. Calyx lobes subequal, broadly ovate to circular, c. 3 mm long at anthesis, reflexed and accrescent but scarcely as long as the capsule with stigma in fruit, the upper lobe with apex rounded, the lower lobe with apex retuse. Corolla yellow, 0.7-1 cm long, ± densely covered externally with fine, flexuous, multicellelar, gland-tipped hairs; upper lip broadly ovate with apex retuse or emarginate; lower lip limb transversely elliptic, the base with a prominent, bigibbous swelling, the apex rounded or emarginate; palate pubescent; spur cylindrical from a broad, conical base, with apex retuse or emarginate, shorter than the lower lip. Filaments slightly curved, the anther thecae ± confluent. Ovary globose; style short but distinct; stigma lower lip transversely elliptic, the upper lip much smaller, deltoid or ± obsolete. Capsule globose, 3-4 mm in diameter, with persistent style up to 1.5 mm long, the wall somewhat fleshy, circumscissile. Seeds disk-shaped, 0.8-1.2 mm wide, 4-6 angled, usually 3 or more times as wide as high, narrowly winged on all the angles, the testa cells conspicuous, ± elongate, the anticlinal boundaries raised, ± straight, densely microscopically verrucose, the periclinal walls tabular, moderately densely microscopically verrucose. Flowering more or less throughout the year.