Utricularia simulans - Savane Marivat - Macouria - French Guyana

Dear forum readers,

I was in the savannahs of beatifull French Guyana again !
This time, I was at Savane Marivat, a little savannah near Macouria, a little town 25 Km away from Cayenne.
Here is a little report about a spectacular representative of the genus Utricularia, I speak about U.simulans. The flower of this plant is very small, but when you approach your eye, you’ll see delicate sepals…pictures come later ! The stem are also somewhat spectacular : they are reddish, with some yellow to green places – very nice.
I found a very big and healthy colony : there were about some hundreds of flowers, on some places, you couldn’t move without putting a foot on a plant…..and there was not only U.simulans at this place !

Here is a general picture of the biotope : it’s sandy, you can see it on the way, and covered with grasses. There are no trees, only little bushes here and there.
The place is burned down once a year by natural bushfires. The vegetation need 3 weeks to recover : after this period, the savannah is green again.



During the wet part of the year ( speak “rainy season” ) the soil is covered with green plants, flowers in full bloom, and little bogs are building themselves here and there in the lowest parts of the savannah. The flat parts of the land are covered with a layer of water, which can be very deep : between 1cm and 30cm !
Of course, you’ll not find our friends there…only the upper part of the area is colonized by our plants. Some are growing in water, some in a moist substrate…the soils consist on a layer of very thin white sand. On the sand, you’ll find vegetal debris, like leaves; they are decomposing themselves, and form a thin layer of nutrients on the sand surface. All these debris are washed away by the water and/or dry out during the dry season. All the plants of the area dies away, only the grasses survive ( but they will finish burned ! )

I told you I saw hundreds of plants. This is true, and of course, no pictures will ever replace the reality. Here is a poor picture that might show…saying 30m², from hundreds !



Here is another one, maybe you’ll have a better view on the water which covers the soil. At this place, the deepness of the water is about 5 to 10cm, it depend on the place ; of course, you can’t miss the hundreds of flowers here and there, and maybe you’ll discover some other interesting plants ? have you seen the Drosera ?
The stems are reddish, and I looked for an anthocyanyn-free plant, but I found only one : the stem was entirely green, but the flower scape was along to grow, that’s why I cant say that anthocyanyn-free plants do really exist.
All the plants are coloured, the main difference from one to another is the colour of the sepals & petals…Of course, it’s not easy to find a particular plant when there are hundreds !
Most of the flower stems had one to three open or “semi-open” flowers, while others prepared to open :



The soil is covered with debris, and they decompose themselves. After the water went away, the result is this :



( by the way : there are no visible leaves attached to the stem of U.simulans…have you seen it ? )

The flowers are yellow. The sepals are a must seen ! They are like having been cut by very thin and small scissors, it’s a pleasure for the eye !
Most plants are red and yellow in their general appearance. It’s the same for the flowers, yellow + red petals and yellow + red sepals :



But you can also find plants which show bright yellow petals and sepals :




This is it my friends !
I hope the report was interesting, your comments are welcome.

Hello Patrice

Thanx for your nice photos! It's always a pleasure to get some shots of CPs outside our own country.

Just let me ask you: Are these white flowered plants among the yellow utricularias Habenaria Orchids? I can't se them clearly but its quite common to find these orchids in CP habitats.

wow very interesting, how many Utrics...
I never saw this Utricularia, behind of the flower this leaf like a dionaea trap
diferent.
thanks for show us

Hi Patrice,

very beautiful species, I never saw this utricularia in habitat ...
... errrr, only in pictures (Fernando, Adilson).

Thanks for sharing!

bomdia foristas,


Adilson, I'm sorry to tell you I dont know

I was watching at the Cp's, and I really focused on them....and all the other species....well, it was impossible for me to see something else....sorry, you know how it is
I watched in my book about Fr.Guyana orchids : there are about 40 species of Habenaria sp. registered here... I also cultivate some, but they are not my main focus. I have mainly epiphyts like Epidendrum, Encyclia, Prostechea, Maxillaria, Catasetum, and others, of course

Felipe, you are right ! when you see this plant in real, it's a real happening ; the plants look very special : first, you see this red colored stems, and then, you see this special shape of the flowers : it's very impressive ! a picture dont say anything, I'm so sorry that you cant show what you really see by using cameras...well, that's life, folks !

thanks for the comments

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bomdia foristas,

well, nobody asked about the leaves....they are missing on the picture....

here are some interesting details about the leaves :
they are small.
length is about 1.5cm, and leaf is 0.5mm large.
it's less or more tubular, "spatulate" and flat at the apex.

I told you about the layer of mud witch covers the soil : the leaves are hidden in the mud !
they are covered with the muddy debris, that's why we cant see them....
every leaf, every stem of grass is covered with this mud like you can see on one of the pictures.

I tried to take a picture of the traps : it was impossible with my camera, sorry.
and because of the mud...of course

an interesting detail is that these leaves are also carnivorous !
on their underside, you can see minute small traps : they are attached along the middle line of the leaf, and look the same as the one on the "roots"

I'll try to make a picture of these traps the next time I'll went to this savanna,
and will take some "heavy equipment" to trap those traps

another interesting skill of this Utricularia is the fact that "it seem that the plant form tuberous roots", after the Taylor's...
we talked a little bit about this point on our French forum, and as I said there, I'll try to look after this detail to know more about it...

thanks for your interesting, replies are welcome

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