Utricularia (Bladderworts)

carnivorous plants · water hunters · unusual flowers

Speedy trappers. Bladderworts have the fastest trap in the plant kingdom. When a small creature touches a trigger hair, the trap snaps shut in just 1/50th of a second, sucking the prey inside before it can escape.

Found almost everywhere. These plants live on every continent except Antarctica, growing in freshwater ponds, lakes, streams, and soggy soil. Some kinds float in water while others grow on land.

Beautiful and sneaky. Even though they're meat-eaters, bladderworts have gorgeous flowers that look like tiny snapdragons or delicate orchids. Gardeners love growing them just to see these colorful blooms.

Tiny but deadly. Bladderworts are very small plants, but they're huge hunters. A single plant might have hundreds of little bladder-shaped traps that catch tiny fish, tadpoles, and water insects.

233 different kinds. Scientists have identified about 233 species of bladderworts, making it one of the largest groups of carnivorous plants on Earth.