Bladderworts:
Approaching the wobbly, floating margin of the pond as closely as I dared, I saw large aquatic
Utricularia floating in the open water. I assumed these were
U. macrorhiza. They were remarkably bright green, but this might have been a matter of contrast with
the overall reddish hue in the Sphagnum and shrubbery.
Further along, in more stable flats of Sphagnum, I found more Utricularia
plants; examining them closely I could see they were U. geminiscapa. In this photograph you can see
the bright, short-stalked aquatic flower stalks that instantly and unambiguously identify this species.
It wasn't until later in the day, on my hike back to the car, that I realized that the Utricularia
floating in the deep water of the pond might have been U. geminiscapa too. If so, they were extremely
large specimens.
The plumous leaves (for example, at lower left) is what the Sphagnum looks like when growing
submerged.
