Utricularia simulansPilg.

fringed bladderwort

WFO wfo-0000417414 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Utricularia simulans, photographed by Michelle Sevcovas
fig. a Michelle Sevcovas, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-11-09 / obs. 168142705
Utricularia simulans, photographed by Jay Horn
fig. b Jay Horn, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 102080065
Utricularia simulans, photographed by Tsssss
fig. c Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / obs. 93331478
Utricularia simulans, photographed by Tsssss
fig. d Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / obs. 93176717
Utricularia simulans, photographed by Tsssss
fig. e Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / obs. 93004218
Utricularia simulans, photographed by Tsssss
fig. f Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / obs. 92967704
Utricularia simulans, photographed by Jay Horn
fig. g Jay Horn, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 52541707
Utricularia simulans, photographed by botanygirl
fig. h botanygirl, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204321

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 28 botanical countries

Regions where Utricularia simulans is native: Angola, Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Chad, DR Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Florida, Mexico Southeast, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Cuba, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela AngolaBeninBurkinaCameroonChadDR CongoGabonGuineaGuinea-BissauLiberiaMaliSenegalZambiaFloridaMexico SoutheastBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCubaFrench GuianaGuyanaParaguaySurinameVenezuela
Native distribution of Utricularia simulans, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Burkina BKN
Cameroon CMN
Chad CHA
DR Congo ZAI
Gabon GAB
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Liberia LBR
Mali MLI
Senegal SEN
Zambia ZAM
Belize BLZ SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Cuba CUB
French Guiana FRG
Guyana GUY
Paraguay PAR
Suriname SUR
Venezuela VEN
Florida FLA NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Southeast MXT

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 7 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.

  • Polypompholyx bicolor Klotzsch
  • Polypompholyx laciniata var. rubrocalcarata Griseb.
  • Utricularia congesta Steyerm.
  • Utricularia congesta f. deminutiva Steyerm.
  • Utricularia laciniata var. poeppigiana Buscal.
  • Utricularia orinocensis Steyerm.
  • Utricularia surinamensis Buscal.

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.