สำนักงานราชบัณทิตยสภา

The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume IV - 2012 50  Due to the very poor nutrient availability in the wet substrate layer, the wild fl owering herbs have to adapt themselves by means of trapping devices to capture microfauna to compensate for the lack of nutrients for their survival and growth. The carnivorous plants are thus abundant especially in the open wet ground fl oor of deciduous dipterocarp forest. The carnivorous plants of the genus Utricularia mostly inhabit water-saturated soils, where their tiny bladder-like traps can be perpetually exposed to continuously moving water through the substrates. Three miniature wild fl owering herbs, Dusita, Soi Suwanna and Thip Kesorn thrive well in very wet soils which are poor in dissolved minerals, where their carnivorous nature renders them a competitive advantage. Their minute aquatic traps are capable of capturing mostly aquatic microorganisms. The other two small herbaceous plants are of autotrophic (Manee Dheva) or semi-mycotropic (Sarassa Chandhorn) habits. These wild fl owering plants adapt themselves for their survival in inclement conditions. Most of the tiny plants are of herbaceous type, which has a short life cycle. They become fully grown and bloom in the shortest possible time in a single rainy season, and perish in the hot, dry season. The new plant growth will come to life again at an appropriate time in the next rainy season. Botany of Her Majesty’s favorite wild fl owering plants Botanical details (Taylor, 1989; Parnell, 2005) of Her Majesty’s fi ve favorite miniature plants proliferating in the wet wild fl ower fi elds are given below: Dusita ( ดุสิตา )- Utricularia delphinioides Thorel ex Pellegr. (Lentibulariaceae) A small, delicate, carnivorous, annual herb, 8-20 cm tall. True roots absent. Root-like rhizoids and stolons infrequent, fi liform. Traps usually few at fl owering, mostly on leaves and stolons, minute, bladder-like, ovoid. Leaves solitary or few, delicate, laminar oblong-spathulate, 1-2.6 cm long, usually absent at fl owering. In fl orescence erect, solitary, 10-45 cm long, usually 6-18- fl owered. Flowers are many and always crowded near the apex, widely spaced low down and few. Bracts at the base, ovate, 2-6 mm long. Bracteoles linear, 2-3 mm long. Pedicels erect, 0.4-1.2 cm long. Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and the Conservation of the Wild Flower Fields in Northeastern Thailand