922.000 Pontederia L.

Fayaz, F. (2011) Encyclopedia of Tropical Plants Firefly Books, New Zealand

Description of the genus

Herbs, annual or perennial, rooted in mud; vegetative stems submerged and growing to surface, or rhizomatous. Sessile leaves forming basal rosette, lamina thin. Petiolate leaves floating or emersed; lamina cordate to reniform; apex obtuse to acuminate. Inflorescences spicate, commonly 50 or more-flowered, elongating over many days; spathes folded; apex acute; peduncle glandular, pubescent or pilose. Flowers open for one day only; perianth mauve, blue or white, funnelform, limb lobes oblong. Fruit utriculate, ovoid, with spinulose, dentate or smooth longitudinal ridges. Seeds 1 ovoid, smooth.

Derivation of name: after Guilio Pontedera (1688-1757) an Italian botanist and correspondent of Linnaeus

Worldwide: 6 species in the Western Hemisphere.

Zimbabwe: 1 taxon.

Pontederia cordata var. lanceolata

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
cordata L. var. lanceolata (Nutt.) Griseb.W,C,E,SDescription, Image

Other sources of information about Pontederia:

Our websites:

Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Pontederia

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Pontederia
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Pontederia
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Pontederia
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Pontederia
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Pontederia
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Pontederia
JSTOR Plant Science: Pontederia
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Pontederia
Plants of the World Online: Pontederia
Tropicos: Pontederia
Wikipedia: Pontederia

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Genus page: Pontederia.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=323, retrieved 28 March 2024

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