Utricularia macrocheilos
Encyclopedia
Utricularia macrocheilos is a small annual
carnivorous plant
that belongs to the genus
Utricularia. It is endemic to western tropical Africa
, where it is only known from the mountain ranges of Guinea
and Sierra Leone
. U. macrocheilos grows as a terrestrial plant among wet rocks at medium altitudes. It flowers between August and January. A specimen of U. macrocheilos was originally included in the description of U. prehensilis
by François Pellegrin in 1914 and also in John Hutchinson
and Nicol Alexander Dalzell's 1931 description of U. micropetala
. Peter Taylor
recognized these specimens as a different taxon in a 1963 review of African species and treated it as a variety of U. micropetala. After further discussions with other botanists and review of the specimens, he elevated the variety to the species level in 1986 as U. macrocheilos. Compared to U. micropetala, U. macrocheilos has much longer corolla lips and less acute fruiting calyx lobe apices. Taylor notes, however, that the vegetative body of the plants and the seeds appear to be identical.
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...
that belongs to the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Utricularia. It is endemic to western tropical Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, where it is only known from the mountain ranges of Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
and Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
. U. macrocheilos grows as a terrestrial plant among wet rocks at medium altitudes. It flowers between August and January. A specimen of U. macrocheilos was originally included in the description of U. prehensilis
Utricularia prehensilis
Utricularia prehensilis is a small to medium-sized, probably perennial carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. It is native to tropical and southern Africa, where it can be found in Angola, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya,...
by François Pellegrin in 1914 and also in John Hutchinson
John Hutchinson (botanist)
John Hutchinson, OBE, FRS was a renowned English botanist, taxonomist and author.-Life and career:...
and Nicol Alexander Dalzell's 1931 description of U. micropetala
Utricularia micropetala
Utricularia micropetala is a small annual carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. It is endemic to western tropical Africa and is found in the Central African Republic, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. U. micropetala grows as a terrestrial plant among wet rocks at altitudes...
. Peter Taylor
Peter Taylor (botanist)
Peter Geoffrey Taylor was a British botanist who worked at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew throughout his career in botany. Taylor was born in 1926 and joined the staff of the herbarium at Kew in 1948. He published his first new species, Utricularia pentadactyla, in 1954...
recognized these specimens as a different taxon in a 1963 review of African species and treated it as a variety of U. micropetala. After further discussions with other botanists and review of the specimens, he elevated the variety to the species level in 1986 as U. macrocheilos. Compared to U. micropetala, U. macrocheilos has much longer corolla lips and less acute fruiting calyx lobe apices. Taylor notes, however, that the vegetative body of the plants and the seeds appear to be identical.