''Hydrocharis'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

aquatic plant Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

s in the family

Hydrocharitaceae Hydrocharitaceae is a flowering plant family which includes 14 accepted genera and a total of ca 135 known species (Christenhusz & Byng 2016). The family holds a number of species of aquatic plants, including tape-grass, the well-known Canadian ...

described as a genus by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1753. Species range across much of Europe and Asia, northwestern and central Africa, New Guinea, and the Americas from the eastern and central United States to Argentina and Chile. Species are naturalized in parts of California, northeastern North America, southern tropical Africa, and Australia.Roberts, M. L., R. L. Stuckey, and R. S. Mitchell. 1981. ''Hydrocharis morsus-ranae'' (Hydrocharitaceae) new to the United States. Rhodora 83: 147--148. The best known species is ''

Hydrocharis morsus-ranae ''Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L.'' is a species of the genus ''Hydrocharis'' known by the common name European frog-bit. It is a free-floating flowering plant that bears small white flowers. ''"Morsus-ranae"'' means "frog bite" in Latin, and it is ...

'', commonly called common frogbit or European frog's-bit, and occasionally water-poppy.

Species

Five species are accepted. *'' Hydrocharis chevalieri'' (De Wild.) Dandy –

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

*'' Hydrocharis dubia'' (Blume) Backer –

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai, informally known as Primorye, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krais of Russia, krai) of Russia, part of the Far Eastern Federal District in the Russian Far East. The types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...

, China, Japan, Korea, Indian subcontinent, SE Asia, New Guinea *''

Hydrocharis laevigata ''Hydrocharis laevigata'' is a floating aquatic plant, and is a member of the family Hydrocharitaceae. Common names include West Indian spongeplant, South American spongeplant and Amazon or smooth frogbit. This plant was introduced to North Ameri ...

'' – smooth or South American frogbit; Mexico through Central and South America to Argentina and Chile *''

'' L. – common or European frogbit; Europe, Siberia, North Africa, Turkey,

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

*'' Hydrocharis spongia'' – American frogbit; central and eastern United States

References

External links

* Hydrocharitaceae Hydrocharitaceae genera Aquatic plants Taxa described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Alismatales-stub