- First described
- 2025
- Type
- seed grown mixed genetics population
- Cultivar
- 'Madagascar'
Origin
Mike's plants come from imported African seeds (Madagascar lineage), giving him unique genetics distinct from the division-propagated US livida circulation. Multiple seedlings germinated and flowered roughly a year after sowing — Mike doesn't know how many distinct genotypes are represented in his colony.
Distinguishing from livida 'Mexico'
- Leaves: smaller, narrower than Mexico's large rounder leaves.
- Flower morphology: longer, larger, sometimes with wider petals — hcarlton thinks the flowers look more like U. microcalyx than other livida, suggesting possible taxonomic revision.
Standout traits
- Vigorous — flowering within ~1 year of germination.
- Temperature-driven color polymorphism: same plant, dramatically different flower colors between summer-warm and winter-cold conditions. Noah Juve (Insectiside Nursery) confirms this is a general Utricularia pattern, but this clone shows it especially clearly.
- Faint sweet fragrance — Mike's first noted fragrance in any Utricularia he's grown.
- Cold-tolerant outdoors near a heat-radiating wall in NorCal.
Cultivation notes
- Imported seed → grow lights + warmth → ~1 month for germination.
- Slow colony establishment; growth accelerates after critical mass.
- Outdoor acclimation: shade cloth + cement-warmed microsite.
- Won't self-set seed under Mike's conditions — non-invasive.
Standout traits
- Vigorous — many seedlings flowered ~1 year after germination.
- Long-lasting blooms; pot can fill with flowers given good growth momentum.
- Different leaf morphology vs livida 'Mexico' — narrower, smaller leaves rather than the rounder large leaves of the Mexican form.
- Color polymorphism: summer-warm-grown flowers vs winter-cold-grown flowers show very different colors on the same plant. (Noah Juve of Insectiside Nursery: many Utricularias show temperature-dependent flower color; this one is no exception.)
- Faint, sweet fragrance — Mike: 'I haven't ever noticed a fragrance with other utrics before.'
- Cold tolerance: survived multiple frost nights outdoors near house (warm microsite); didn't freeze.
- Some flowers have noticeably wider petals than others — Mike speculates genetics rather than environment.
Cultivation
Mike's start protocol:
- Tiny seeds — kept warm under grow lights for germination.
- Almost a month before first seedlings emerged.
- Slow to form colonies; once colonies reached critical mass, growth and flowering accelerated.
- Made divisions, acclimated outdoors with bright filtered light.
Outdoor performance: kept by the side of the house under shade cloth, sitting on cement (which radiates heat into the night) — survives near-freezing temps and probable light frost without damage. Cold-night coloration intensified the flower colors.
No self-pollination observed — likely requires cross-pollination, which Mike notes is good for cultivators since it won't seed-invade other Utricularia pots.
Photos (21)
Naming
"Madagascar" — geographic-source descriptor. Distinguishes from the African forms of *U. livida* circulating in the US, and from the large-leaved Mexican form Mike documents separately.