Re: _Utricularia_

SCHLAUER@chemie.uni-wuerzburg.de
Mon, 23 Sep 1996 18:28:48

Dear +Michael,

> This question may be be dumb, but from reading books about the terrestrial
> varieties of the plants, it seems to me that the bladders would be
> underground. Am I completely wrong in this assumption?

No. This definitely makes some sense.

> If I'm right, what/how do they eat?

They eat ground-dwelling creatures/by means of their elaborately
designed suction traps.

> It seems to me that utricularias NEED water in order
> to make the traps work? Am I just missing the obvious here?

Well, it depends. "Underground" does not mean absence of water. In
fact, there is hardly any _Utricularia_ with the traps working in a
really dry environment. A thin film of water is always necessary (and
sufficient).

> Also, as far as aquatic utricularias and aldrovandas and genlisias
> go, can any fish survive in the same conditions needed to grow
> them?

Yes, if the diameter of the fish is at least a bit larger than the
diameter of the respective trap entrance (Do *NOT* compare adult
fish and juvenile plant but rather juvenile fish and adult plant!).

> I'm inheriting
> a nice aquarium setup and can't make up my mind if I want to do fish or
> aquatic CP's, but I was hoping to do both.

No problem if you stick to the above cited diameter rule.

Kind regards
Jan