Re: Introduction

Barry Meyers-Rice (barry@as.arizona.edu)
Thu, 25 Feb 93 08:32:01 MST

>Initially, we didn't have any success with aquatic Utrics - we were
>using the Slack "peat-tea" method. The best success we've had is to
>grow them in the water trays of the terrestrial Utrics! So far, one
>particular plant has been the only one to flower, but it's been
>continuously flowering for months now!

Let me guess...is this Utric a stringy mat-forming plant without any
bushy leaves---just a mass of stolons with pairs of threadlike leaves
emerging from the stolons, maybe branching a few times? And is the
upper lip of the flower bigger than the lower lip?

>Are Planaria worms the little flat worms (about 1/2" x 1/8" approx??) We've

Planaria are very distinctive, shaped like so..

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/ OO \ <--note eye-spots
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and with the dimensions you described. These are the critters that are
trained to wince at light flashes (associating them with electric shocks
administered by bored lab assistants).

Yesterday I was potting some newly arrived plants when I looked in my
pot of _U.inflata_ `Washington State' and thrilled to see a tiny
embryonic flower bud forming. I am very excited about this. This is a
species that produces a fascinating array of flotation bladders on
the inflorescences, radiating from the peduncle like spokes on a wheel,
in order to insure the flower stays above water. This is going to be
neat!

B