Fairy aprons

Description

Utricularia dichotoma, commonly known as fairy aprons, is a variable, perennial species of terrestrial bladderwort. The specific epithet is Latin for "dividing into pairs" and refers to the double arrangement of flowers which this species often displays. Utricularia dichotoma is a low stoloniferous herb with leaves variable in size and shape. According to Curtis, they can range from oval-spathulate and 2–4 mm long to narrow-lanceolate and up to 40 mm long. The former is more typical of plants growing in wet soil, the latter of plants growing fully submerged. Inflorescences are 5–30 cm high, terminating in one or two pairs of flowers, or whorls of three. Numerous underground stolons bearing bladders 1.5–2 mm in diameter.