Utricularia vulgaris is an aquatic species of bladderwort

Bladderwort

Utricularia, commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species . They occur in fresh water and wet soil as terrestrial or aquatic species across every continent except Antarctica...

 found in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. The plant is a free-floating and does not put down roots. Stems can attain lengths of over one metre in a single growing season, but die back and form turion

Turion

A turion is a specialised overwintering bud produced by aquatic herbs, especially in the genera Potamogeton, Aldrovanda and Utricularia. Turion are produced in response to unfavourable conditions such as decreasing day-length or reducing temperature. They are derived from modified shoot apices...

s in winter. The leaves are finely pinnately divided, between one to eight centimetres long and carry many bladder-like traps

Carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants appear adapted to grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic...

. The yellow flowers are borne on stalks above the surface of the water between April and August. In eastern Asia and North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, its place is taken by the related species U. macrorhiza

Utricularia macrorhiza

Utricularia macrorhiza, the common bladderwort, is a large, perennial suspended aquatic carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. U. macrorhiza is native to North America and eastern temperate Asia.-External links:*...

.