Utricularia caeruleaL.

bladderwort

WFO wfo-0001230105 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Utricularia caerulea, photographed by Hugo Innes
fig. a Hugo Innes, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-10 / obs. 204858326
Utricularia caerulea, photographed by Hugo Innes
fig. b Hugo Innes, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203459234
Utricularia caerulea, photographed by Hugo Innes
fig. c Hugo Innes, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196748207
Utricularia caerulea, photographed by Hugo Innes
fig. d Hugo Innes, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 194981942
Utricularia caerulea, photographed by Hugo Innes
fig. e Hugo Innes, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 194980540
Utricularia caerulea, photographed by Hugo Innes
fig. f Hugo Innes, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192125513
Utricularia caerulea, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. g Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 188216730
Utricularia caerulea, photographed by Hugo Innes
fig. h Hugo Innes, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 186861215

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 33 botanical countries

Regions where Utricularia caerulea is native: Madagascar, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Japan, Korea, Nansei-shoto, Primorye, Taiwan, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, India, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, Caroline Is., Marianas MadagascarChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanJapanPrimoryeTaiwanAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaIndiaJawaLaosMalayaMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPhilippinesSri LankaSumateraThailandVietnamNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern Australia KoreaNansei-shotoAndaman Is.Caroline Is.Marianas
Native distribution of Utricularia caerulea, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
China North-Central CHN ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Japan JAP
Korea KOR
Nansei-shoto NNS
Primorye PRM
Taiwan TAI
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Northern Territory NTA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Marianas MRN
Madagascar MDG AFRICA

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 30 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Calpidisca takenakai Nakai
  • Calpidisca tatenakae Nakai
  • Pelidnia caerulea (L.) Barnhart
  • Utricularia albiflora Griff.
  • Utricularia albina Ridl.
  • Utricularia caerulea var. filicaulis (Wall. ex A.DC.) Haines
  • Utricularia campestris Miq. ex C.B.Clarke
  • Utricularia capillaris D.Don
  • Utricularia cavalerii Stapf
  • Utricularia charnleyensis W.Fitzg.
  • Utricularia complanata Wall.
  • Utricularia filicaulis Wall.
  • Utricularia filicaulis Wall. ex A.DC.
  • Utricularia filicaulis var. papillosa Pellegr.
  • Utricularia kerrii Craib
  • Utricularia nivea Vahl
  • Utricularia nivea var. rosea (Edgew.) Trimen
  • Utricularia obtusiloba Benj.
  • Utricularia ophirensis Ridl.
  • Utricularia paucifolia Benj.
  • Utricularia racemosa Wall. ex Walp.
  • Utricularia racemosa f. leucantha Komiya
  • Utricularia racemosa var. filicaulis (Wall. ex A.DC.) C.B.Clarke
  • Utricularia racemosa var. rosea (Edgew.) Thwaites

and 6 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.