Utricularia purpureaWalter

eastern purple bladderwort

WFO wfo-0001072709 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Utricularia purpurea, photographed by Abby Darrah
fig. a Abby Darrah, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-30 / obs. 202018076
Utricularia purpurea, photographed by Lauren McLaurin
fig. b Lauren McLaurin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196848453
Utricularia purpurea, photographed by Lauren McLaurin
fig. c Lauren McLaurin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192174962
Utricularia purpurea, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. d Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 187360342
Utricularia purpurea, photographed by Jade Fortnash
fig. e Jade Fortnash, CC0 1.0 / obs. 190785434
Utricularia purpurea, photographed by Jade Fortnash
fig. f Jade Fortnash, CC0 1.0 / obs. 190785641
Utricularia purpurea, photographed by Lauren McLaurin
fig. g Lauren McLaurin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 182430364
Utricularia purpurea, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. h Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 181127148

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 37 botanical countries

Regions where Utricularia purpurea is native: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica AlabamaConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMexico GulfMexico SoutheastMichiganMinnesotaMississippiNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNova ScotiaOntarioPennsylvaniaQuébecSouth CarolinaTexasVermontVirginiaWisconsinBelizeCosta RicaCubaJamaica DelawareRhode I.Bahamas
Native distribution of Utricularia purpurea, 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
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Southeast MXT
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Wisconsin WIS
Bahamas BAH SOUTHERN AMERICA
Belize BLZ
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Jamaica JAM

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 5 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.

  • Utricularia purpurea f. alba Hellq.
  • Utricularia saccata Leconte
  • Utricularia violacea Barton
  • Vesiculina purpurea (Walter) Raf.
  • Vesiculina saccata (Leconte) Raf.

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.