Michael Wolf · CC BY-SA 3.0
About
A striking perennial plant, *Utricularia livida* is notable for its pale lavender or white flowers and its wide native range spanning from central and southern Africa to Mexico. It is valued as an ornamental houseplant.
Field notes
Morphology
Above ground, the plant features kidney-shaped, pale lavender or white flowers on straight slender stems. The leaf assembly is below ground, where the carnivorous bladders are located.
Distribution & habitat
Native to central and southern Africa (including Angola, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, etc.) and Mexico. It thrives in boggy areas or shallow soils over rock at altitudes from near sea level to 2,830 m.
Ecology
The plant's leaf assembly is below ground, where tiny bladders consume micro-organisms which multiply in wet soil.
Cultivation notes
It is grown as a houseplant and does not tolerate freezing, requiring cultivation under glass in pans of damp sand in full sun.
History & etymology
The species was originally described and published by Ernst Heinrich Friedrich Meyer in 1837. The specific epithet livida means "pale" or "lead-coloured," referring to the color of the flowers.
Habitat
- Altitude
- 0–2,000 m
- Altitude Class
- intermediate
- Native To
- South Africa, Mexico
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- easy
- Temperature
- Day 20–28°C / Night 12–20°C
- Humidity
- 50–80%
- Notes
- Among the most vigorous terrestrial Utricularia. Pale lilac flowers.
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