# Yellow bladderwort (*Utricularia × neglecta*)

The Yellow bladderwort is a special plant that grows in water! It has tiny bladders that trap small bugs to eat. This helps it get the nutrients it needs to grow strong and healthy.

- **Category:** [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/plant)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 1/5 · Very low
- **Habitat:** Wetlands

![Yellow bladderwort](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/Utricularia_australis.JPG&width=800)

Photo: Abalg, CC BY 3.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Utricularia_australis.JPG)

## Appearance

The Yellow bladderwort has delicate, bright yellow, snapdragon-like flowers that rise above the water's surface on slender stalks. Its submerged stems bear finely divided, rootless leaves and numerous tiny, translucent bladders, making it look like a floating mass of greenery.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Plantae
- **Phylum:** Tracheophyta
- **Class:** Magnoliopsida
- **Order:** Lamiales
- **Family:** Lentibulariaceae
- **Genus:** Utricularia

## Interesting facts

- Break off a piece, and it grows into a new plant, reproducing easily!
- Its bladder has a trigger hair: touch it, and \*whoosh\*, the trap snaps shut!
- Rootless, it absorbs water nutrients directly using special underwater structures.
- Tiny water fleas, mosquito larvae, and worms can all become its quick snack!

## Special abilities

- **Lightning Trapper:** Yellow bladderwort has tiny bladders that suck in prey with amazing speed, creating a vacuum in milliseconds!
- **Rootless Wanderer:** This plant has no roots, so it floats freely, drifting wherever the water currents take it to find new hunting grounds.
- **Underwater Hunter:** Yellow bladderwort is one of the few carnivorous plants that hunts underwater, catching small creatures with its special traps.

## Measurements & details

- **Height:** 5-100 cm
- **Spread:** 10-200 cm
- **Flower Size:** 1-2.5 cm
- **Bloom Season:** Late spring to early fall
- **Edible:** No
- **Toxicity:** None
- **Lifecycle:** Perennial
- **Pollination Method:** Insect

## Ecological connections

- **Pollinates:** Honey bee (*Apis mellifera*) — Attracted to its yellow flowers
- **Pollinates:** [Bumblebee](https://www.snappit.app/explore/bumblebee) (*Bombus terrestris*) — Visits flowers to collect nectar and pollen
- **Hunts:** Water flea (*Daphnia pulex*) — Small crustaceans often caught in its bladders
- **Hunts:** Common house mosquito (*Culex pipiens*) — Larvae swimming in water are trapped

## Traits

- [Flowering](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/flowering): Flowering plants are any plants that produce flowers as part of their reproductive cycle.
- [Colorful](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/colorful): Colorful describes organisms or objects displaying a wide range of bright and distinct colors.
- [Insectivorous](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/insectivorous): This trait identifies organisms whose diet primarily consists of insects and other small invertebrates.
- [Pollinator Magnet](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/pollinator-magnet): Describes plants that are particularly attractive and beneficial to a wide range of pollinating organisms.
- [Rapid Growing](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/rapid-growing): Rapid growing plants exhibit accelerated growth rates, quickly increasing in size and biomass within a short period.
- [Wetland](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/wetland): This habitat trait identifies species found in wetlands, which are areas of land saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, including marshes, swamps, and bogs.
- [Carnivorous](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/carnivorous): This trait identifies organisms whose diet consists entirely or primarily of animal tissue.
- [Aquatic](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/aquatic): Aquatic habitats encompass environments where organisms live predominantly in water, including oceans, rivers, lakes, and wetlands.

## Collections

- [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/plants)

## Safety

**Danger:** 1/5 · Very low

Always be careful around water and ask an adult before exploring.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Yellow bladderwort?

Start with the whole plant, then compare leaf arrangement, leaf edges, stems and any flowers or fruit. Opposite leaves grow in pairs; alternate leaves come one at a time along the stem. These details tell you far more together than a single green leaf does. Plant Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How tall is Yellow bladderwort?

5-100 cm

### How wide does Yellow bladderwort spread?

10-200 cm

### How big are the flowers on Yellow bladderwort?

1-2.5 cm

### When does Yellow bladderwort bloom?

Late spring to early fall

### Is Yellow bladderwort edible?

No

### Is Yellow bladderwort toxic?

None

### What is Yellow bladderwort's lifecycle?

Perennial

## More Plants

- [white snakeroot](https://www.snappit.app/explore/white-snakeroot) (*Ageratina altissima*)
- [tree-of-heaven](https://www.snappit.app/explore/tree-of-heaven) (*Ailanthus altissima*)
- [western sword fern](https://www.snappit.app/explore/western-sword-fern) (*Polystichum munitum*)
- [common milkweed](https://www.snappit.app/explore/common-milkweed) (*Asclepias syriaca*)

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Source: [Yellow bladderwort: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/yellow-bladderwort)