Utricularia ameliae is a small bladderwort associated with the permanently wet sedgelands of Elizabeth Springs in western Queensland. Its contrasting flower lips and forked spur tip help distinguish it from the broader U. dichotoma group in which it was once included.
Name and classification
Utricularia ameliae R.W.Jobson is accepted by the Australian Plant Census, as displayed through the Atlas of Living Australia. APC taxon record.
Richard Jobson described the species in 2013 in Telopea 15, placing it in section Pleiochasia, subgenus Polypompholyx. The type was collected with Wayne Cherry at Elizabeth Springs in April 2013. Original description.
Jobson's later overview explains that the name honours his daughter, Amelia Pieternella Jobson. It characterises the plant as a small terrestrial perennial of the spring's continuously wet sedgeland. New Australian Utricularia taxa.
Recognising the plant
The original account describes hollow flowering stalks 5–11 cm tall, each bearing one flower. Leaf blades measure 4–10 mm, with rounded tips. The lower flower lip is dark violet with three prominent yellow ridges; the upper lip is white. A pale spur curves forward and tapers into two sharp points. Bracts and bracteoles lack the basal swelling used to distinguish U. dichotoma. Capsules are about 4 mm across and seeds about 0.7 mm long. Flowers and fruits were recorded February–May, with a faint sweet floral scent reported. Morphology and phenology.
For identification, photograph the flower from the front and side, including the spur tip and bract bases. A distant photograph of a pale upper lip alone is insufficient to establish the species.
Elizabeth Springs and possible additional records
The Queensland Government's Springvale Springs Supergroup report describes U. ameliae as known from Elizabeth Springs and reports an estimated 500 plants. It also mentions an unflowered bladderwort at Reedy Springs that was thought likely to be the same species. The estimate is a dated survey figure, and the suggested Reedy Springs identification should remain provisional. Springvale Springs report.
The government's Elizabeth Springs wildlife page records the species with a latest displayed observation of 28 September 2022. The page cautions that its records are a subset of WildNet data and do not establish current presence or absence. WetlandInfo occurrence record and limitations.
Conservation: recommendation and recorded status
The 2013 paper recommended Endangered status and reported pig damage at the wetland. That recommendation should not be represented as an enacted listing. Original conservation discussion.
The Queensland wildlife page consulted instead displays the code SL, defined in its legend as Special least concern, under the Nature Conservation Act column. This is the status displayed by that source, distinct from the research recommendation. Neither statement establishes that its narrowly distributed habitat is free of threats. Government status field and legend.
Cultivation and propagation
A repeatable species-specific growing or germination protocol was not established from the reviewed sources. A permanently wet natural habitat provides ecological context, but does not specify a tested nursery substrate, mineral concentration, temperature or water depth.
For legally obtained material, retain provenance and identification evidence. Record continued vegetative growth, flowering, mature seed and successful germination as separate outcomes. Do not infer a drying requirement from the surrounding arid landscape when the documented habitat is spring-fed wetland.
Research checked 23 September 2026. Detailed synonymy, cultivation evidence and identification of possible additional populations remain open checks. Text-only draft; image identity and rights require verification. No Nano Nursery stock availability is implied.
