UV stacking: Bladderwort

[nfoto]

As regular visitors may have noticed, I haven't been very active on UVP for a while. The basic reason is that getting out of the aftermath of 'Long Covid' takes time. A lot of time, in fact. Even 4-5 months apparently make an insufficient duration.

 

Oh well, on my better days I force myself out into the field just to do *something*. Meaning, acting mostly like a botanists again and collecting samples of stuff of interest mainly to nerdier people. As I'm firmly belonging in that category, I collect the odd stuff here and there. Very little photography is done, however. I did recently acquire the bits and pieces for to set up the  EO 15X/0.28 Reflex objective and a matching Mitutoyo MT-L4 UV tube lens, a system which in theory at least should be good down into the UV-C range.

 

Now, I have no intention going there in the beginning, but as a first step towards getting into UV photography again, I ran some deep stacks on the flowers of the bladderwort Utricularia intermedia. These carnivorous aquatic species flower but rarely,  so I haven't done most of them in UV yet.

 

 

The stack comprises 86 frames done with the UV-Nikkor 105 + PN-11 on my modified Nikon D3200 (internal Baader U). The flowers are strongly zygomorphic and require careful lighting to  avoid harsh shadows. Light by two Broncolor studio flashes with uncoated Xenon tubes at a distance of approx. 1.5m to avoid overheating the delicate flowers..  I also opened the UV-Nikkor to f/8 instead of the usual f/11-16 and dimmed the flash output accordingly for the same purpose. ISO 100, NEFs straightforwardly processed in PhotoNinja. Stacking by Zerene, using its DMax algorithm.

 

I think the result looks good and an auspicious omen of better times to come.

 

 

 

 

[Andrea B.]

Such a great stacking example!

And it is so good to see you making photos again. 

 

This flower is carnivorous? Yikes! 

 

To make 86 frames for a stack, I'm thinking you might have used the stackshot thingie? Or did you do the stacking "by hand"? It requires quite some effort to flash the scene 86 times! 

[nfoto]

Stackshot* with its programmable controller and Pocketwizards on camera/flash make these tedious and repeating tasks less frustrating

 

The studio flashes are run off A/C mains and can easily flash for hours on end.

---

* 'stackshot thingie' is such a cute designation. I have several of them.

[GaryR]

Glad you're on the mend, and doing the thing that makes you feel like yourself.

Way out of my league, but very cool image!

[bobfriedman]

nice and sharp... love stacking

[colinbm]

Good to see you back out in the field & taking this fantastic stack image.
How is this flower carnivorous, I can't see any openings ?

[dabateman]

Definitely looks good. I hope better times do come soon.

[Andy Perrin]

Fantastic photo. Glad to see you back! 

[Cadmium]

Birna, Indeed, lovely flowers and image! 

[Nate]

Excellent detail, glad your back doing what you enjoy

[nfoto]

Apparently the features of the Bladderworts Utricularia spp. are not well known, so let me elaborate a little.

 

Utricularia is the main genus in the small family Lentibulariaceae, which according to the latest AGP (2016) should be subsumed by the vast family Plantaginaceae. For now I prefer keeping the Lentibulariaceae distinct.

 

The genus is nearly cosmopolitan in its distribution and comprises around 250 species, many of which are poorly known. It has its hot spot in Asia and Australia. In Europe there are approx. 10 species and in the Nordic countries, 6-7 depending on what authority one follows.

 

The Bladderworts are inherently confined to water and many are floating aquatics, whilst others are more terrestrial and occur embedded in wet moss along waterfalls, live in tiny water pools in cracks of tropical rainforest trees etc. The plant is basically rootless and bears delicately branched leaves along a central shoot chain. They all share the common trait of traps on the leaves, or on specialised leafless branches extending into their substrate. The traps have a trap door with triggering bristles and the interior is depressurised. When a prey, such as small copepods, daphnia, chironomids, or gastropods, touch the bristles, the lid snaps open and the prey is sucked inside. Digestive enzymes are produced by specialised hairs ('quadrifids') and the prey is rapidly digested to supply the plant with nutrients such as N and P. When the "meal" has ended, the trap again is depressurised and ready for another snack.

 

The next post will illustrate the description of the Bladderworts.

[nfoto]

First, the flowers of Utricularia intemedia in visible light, same specimen as shown in UV.

 

 

 

The zygomorphic nature of the flowers is readily seen. Under the lower lip there is a long spur which contains nectar.

 

U. intermedia, like the other members of its genus, raises flowers on stalks out of the water.

 

 

 

The vegetative shot are mainly trapless and the plants float freely in water or anchor themselves on muddy substrates by sending the specialised 'anchoring' shoots with traps into the substrate.

 

 

 

The tiny traps sits on the branched leaves (here from U. vulgaris),

 

 

Inside the trap,  we see the tiny quadrifids, the shape of which are different for each species and thus helps identify it. For U. intermedia, the hair pairs are very close so the quadrifid is strap-shaped, for other species, they appear star-like etc.

 

 

[photoni]

fantastic !

[colinbm]

So much diversity when you look for it.

[dabateman]

Interesting plant. With such a lovely flower.

Its great to see that the flower isn't part of its coniferous nature. 

[Andy Perrin]

How do they excrete? Do they consume the entire insect?

[nfoto]

The trap becomes black over time due to accumulation of detritus and might cease to function when it fills up, but yes, the plant digests nearly 100% of the prey. Sometimes the trap is put out of further service when it catches a small freshwater snail. The soft tissue of the gastropod is drawn into the trap but the shell remains on the outside and blocks the entrance so the trap no longer functions. Apparently no problem as a bladderwort carries thousands of these traps and having the odd one decommissioned is no big deal.

[Andrea B.]

wow, just wow!

 

Question:  what do you think the purpose of the UV-absorbing area is for this flower? Protection against UV? Or signaling to insects?

[nfoto]

Humans provide a purpose for what they observe while Nature just remains as is. The few Utricularia spp. I've done in UV all show a similar UV signature and there are iridescent stripes into the dark patch as well (just barely visible on the full-sized image). I do like to think of these features as a "signal", but who knows which organism(s) respond -- if any.

 

These aquatics are not in any way dependent on flowering and sexual reproduction as they have efficient means of vegetative dispersal through winter buds (turions), see below;  and shoot fragments. In this regard they behave just like most other water-dwelling vascular species.

 

 

The turions of the Nordic Bladderworts all look quite similar, only size differs between species. This example is of U. australis according to my field notes. The turions are developed in profusion in the autumn. They initially float around then later to sink to the lake floor for hibernation.

 

 

[Andrea B.]

This topic has it all - UV, macro, micro, stacking, underwater scenes and a good lesson in botany.

Underwater carnivorous traps are new to me. Turions are new to me. And, of course, this flower is new to me.
Thanks, Birna!

[nfoto]

Well, NOT all - the rear view was missing. Consider this rectified now ....

 

 

The corolla surface is covered with tiny conical cells, about 15 µm wide and slightly less tall. That makes for a lot of iridescence and a challenge for the photographer.

 

The very UV-dark spur on the lower side of the lip was surprising.

[Andy Perrin]

It's a very dramatic flower in UV, between the two colors and the conical cells and all.

[Doug A]

Glad you are feeling better and able to photograph again @nfoto. Thanks for the very illuminating photos and detailed information. Bladderwort grows here in Missouri, USA. I will keep an eye out for it. I learn so much here,

Thanks for sharing,

Doug A

 

[colinbm]

Fascinating flower, has this come off the stem ?

 

[nfoto]

Yes. The flowers are short-lived and fall off in a few days.