Utricularia olivacea C.Wright ex Grisebach (1866: 161)

Costa, Suzana M., Bittrich, Volker & Do Amaral, Maria Do Carmo E., 2016, Lentibulariaceae from the Viruá National Park in the northern Amazon, Roraima, Brazil, Phytotaxa 258 (1), pp. 1-25 : 17-19

16. Utricularia olivacea C.Wright ex Grisebach (1866: 161) ( Fig. 5 : J–K)

Aquatic submersed herbs; inflorescence up to 5 cm above water surface. Stolons and vegetative parts glabrous. Leaves absent. Traps lateral, dorsal pair of appendages setaceous and branched. Inflorescence erect or pendent, up to 5- flowered, congested, flowers up to 1 mm distant from each other. Peduncle absent. Sterile bracts absent. Bract up to 1 × ca. 1 mm, basifixed, oblong, apex truncate, margin entire or irregularly sinuous. Bracteoles absent. Pedicels ca. 4 cm long. Calyx lobes equal, ca. 1 × 1 mm, ovate, without prominent nerves, margin entire in flowering and irregularly denticulate in fruiting. Corolla white, sometimes with a lilac mark on the lower lip; upper lip 1 × 1.5 mm, obovate, apex bilobed; lower lip 1.5 × 1.5 mm, ovate, apex bilobed; spur ca. 1 mm long, cuneiform (wedge-shaped), shorter than the lower lip of the corolla and not forming an angle of 90º with the latter in lateral view. Style and filaments short. Fruit indehiscent, ovoid to ellipsoid. Seed one, ovoid, surface smooth.

Distribution:—This is the first record of Utricularia olivacea in Roraima. It occurs in eastern North America, and Central and South America ( Taylor 1989, Trevisan & Moço 2011). In Brazil it occurs in the northern, central-western, southeastern and southern regions ( Miranda et al. 2016). This species is found in still or slow flowing waters, pools, lakes, ditches, swamps, and streams ( Taylor 1989). In the VNP we collected it floating near the water surface, usually among other species with floating parts that slowed down water flow (e.g., Eleocharis sp. pl.), or in still water bodies.

Taxonomic notes:— Utricularia olivacea has the smallest flowers of those listed for the VNP, with flowers up to 3 mm long. Its ovate to elliptic indehiscent fruit and the denticulate appearance of the fruiting calyx helps to distinguish U. olivacea from any other species in the VNP.

Specimens:— BRAZIL. Roraima, Caracaraí, Viruá National Park : “Estrada Perdida”, 14 September 2010, S. M. Costa et al. 727 ( INPA!, UEC!) ; “Estrada Perdida”, 25 January 2010, S. M. Costa 877, K. G. Cangani ( INPA!, UEC!) ; “Estrada Perdida”, 25 July 2010, T.D. M. Barbosa 1349, S. M. Costa ( INPA!, UEC!) .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Utricularia longeciliata A.DC. A. inflorescence (detail). B–C. flower (lateral view and view from the top). Utricularia myriocista A.St.-Hil. & Girard—D–E. habit. F. open flower (front view) and fruit. Utricularia nana A.St.-Hil & Girard—G. habit. H. flower (lateral view). I. habit in fruit. Utricularia olivacea Wright & Girard—J. habit. K. flower (front view). Utricularia pusilla Vahl—L. inflorescence (detail).