No roots, no soil: bladderwort floats in what one writer called “remarkably foul ditches.” Beneath its yellow flowers hang countless tiny bladders. 🌿
Bladderwort traps
2/3
They were said to be floats. Cooke disagreed: most hold water, not air, and branches float just as well without them. Each is about a tenth of an inch. 💧
Bladderwort traps
3/3
Bristles like antennae ring a valve that opens only inward. Water-fleas push through and it springs shut. Cooke's verdict: they catch, but only absorb what decays. 🔍
Cooke's bladderwort: rootless, afloat, and lined with tiny one-way chambers. Meat placed inside stayed unchanged, so he credited absorption, not digestion.