up to 8 mm wide. The apical half of the spokes bear numerous, dichotomously branched leaf-like segments that can also possess some traps. The 20–50 cm long erect inflorescences are produced from the center of the floating whorl and are usually solitary or possess very few scapes for each whorl. An individual plant can produce several whorls and inflorescences, but they are typically distant from each other. The inflorescences produce 9-14 (sometimes 4-17) flowers with unequal calyx lobes, 3–5 mm long. The entire corolla can be 2-2.5 cm long and is bright yellow with brown-colored veins on the spur and brown markings on the lower corolla lobe. This species has a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 18 for the most common form and 2n = 36 for the larger tetraploid populations. The larger tetraploid "race", as Peter Taylor called it, can be up to twice as large as the regular diploid species. Populations of this race have been located in Florida. Distribution and habitat Utricularia inflata is native to the southeastern United States. Peter Taylor's 1989 taxonomic monograph listed the following states where native populations of this species have been located: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. In addition to these states, the United States Department of Agriculture's online PLANTS database acknowledges populations in Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. The states of Maryland, Michigan, and New York have classified U. inflata as an endangered or threatened species while Tennessee has listed it as a species with "special concern". U. inflata inhabits aquatic environments such as lakes, ditches, and swamps from shallow to deep waters at low altitudes. Invasiveness As early as 1980, specimens of U. inflata were beginning to be collected or recorded outside its traditionally accepted range. Populations have been established in Washington state, New York, and Massachusetts. The colonies in Washington are obvious introductions, but while the populations in New York and Massachusetts are most likely the result of recent introductions, it is more difficult to say with certainty how they were introduced. In 2021 a well established and extensive infestation was discovered in Lake Arrowhead in Maine and reported to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. In southeastern Massachusetts, several samples of U. inflata have been gathered from Federal Pond beginning in 1990, representing its first collection north of New Jersey