Lentibulariaceae

views updated

Lentibulariaceae A family of insectivorous herbs, some of which are aquatic with insect-trapping bladders or finely divided leaves (e.g. Utricularia, bladderworts); some are bog or terrestrial plants with basal rosettes or sticky, insect-catching leaves (e.g. Pinguicula, butterworts); and some are terrestrial or epiphytic (see EPIPHYTE). The flowers are solitary or in racemes on leafless stems, pentamerous, 2-lipped, and spurred, the petals joined into a tube below (resembling Linaria, etc., in the Scrophulariaceae), but the ovary is 1-celled. There are 4 genera, with some 250 species, or world-wide distribution.

More From encyclopedia.com