Utricularia gracewort, also known as the floating or humped bladderworts, is the large, medium-sized, mat-forming marine species of aquatic bladderworts. It is widespread in North America and is a naturalized marine organism in the Eastern Pacific, Eastern Mediterranean, and the West Indies. It is most often found in saltwater and fresh water systems along coastal areas. It has also been introduced to fresh water systems in the southern Pacific Ocean.
The reproductive period for this marine plant (including asexual reproduction and parthenogenetic reproduction) lasts for three months. At this time, the plant produces a single thin leaf blade called a prothallium. The leaf blade grows up to 3.5 mm long and has a spherical shape with a sharp base and a base that angles slightly towards the tip. The flat underside of the leaf blade contains two sets of spines that are used to attach to floating bladderwort twigs and other aquatic plants. The inflamed ray-like projections can reach a length of up to 6mm. These projections are surrounded by a band of gill tissues that protect them from being eaten by other sea animals.
The genus Vanda is the one of only four species in the genus Uricheaster. The other three species are all known only by a single word, ‘Vanda’. The name of the genus refers to the great amount of leaves it has. This plant has a highly expanded range of living environments, which range from marine to freshwater to saltwater. All four species are known to occur in association with other aquatic plants.
One of the first freshwater habitats for floating bladderwort was believed to be in the vicinity of sediments of alkaline nature in an ancient lake in North Germany. Subsequently, this area was found to have a very low level of dissolved oxygen. The lack of oxygenated water in the lakes was suspected to be a habitat suitable for both algae and cyanobacteria. Later it was found that both algaecids and cyanobacteria co-exist quite successfully alongside other forms of aquatic flora.
It was not until the 1950s that research showed that the floating bladderwort is present in association with the brightly yellow Algae (chlorophyll). The development of the Brilliant Yellow Algae in association with algaecids and cyanobacteria is not completely understood. Some suggestions state that the algaecides are merely using the Brilliant Yellow Algae as a food source. This would explain the reason for the extremely high concentration of algaecide in the lower lip waters of the Lake Maggots (in Lower Lip, Switzerland).
The most recent hypothesis on the relationship between algaecids and the floating bladderwort is that the bright yellow algae could have formed due to a disturbance in the environment caused by human activities such as washing and bathing. Such a disturbance would also explain why many of the houses of origin of the original inhabitants have been discovered to contain the Stachybotrys Drosera (a common green form of algae). There is a high chance that the inhabitants living at the same time as modern man in the Lake Maggots also contained the Stachybotrys Drosera. There are several theories regarding the relation between the two: the hypothesis is that, since the development of the bladderworts causes the appearance of the Stachybotrys Drosera, this is what happens at the Lake Maggots. Another hypothesis states that, since the Stachybotrys Drosera was already present at the Lake Maggots and since the humans started using it as a food source, the other plants and animals that live at the lakes’ water surface are indirectly affected by the inflamed Stachybotrys Drosera.
Another theory about the link between the Stachybotrys Drosera and the floating bladderwort is that, since the Stachybotrys Drosera can cause an ulcer at the place where it forms; it can irritate and provoke an inflammation at the level of the mucous membrane. This would explain why the fish show certain lesions at the location of the inflamed area. However, the exact mechanism underlying this phenomenon has not yet been proven by scientists. There are numerous speculations regarding the exact mechanisms involved.
All these theories still need to be verified scientifically. Until then, people living near the lakes must take care not to touch the floating bladderwort or try to eat the young shoots that are growing from it. If they do, the carnivorous plant will appear, and the Stachybotrys Drosera will produce its defense secretion, the mucus that covers the leaf blades.