''Lagarosiphon'' 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 ...
of aquatic plants described as a genus in 1841. It is native to
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
and
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
.
It is
dioecious
Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...
, with male and female flowers produced on separate plants.
Description
These branched, aquatic herbs are covered in leaves. They may have an alternate, sub-opposite or whorled arrangement.
The unisexual flowers are surrounded by auxiliary bracts. The male flowers have a six lobed perianth arranged in two rows. The outer lobes are slightly larger. They have three stamens and two to three staminodes. There are multiple flowers per bract.
The female perianths are also made up of six lobes, with those making up the outer layer also being larger than those of the inner layer. The one chambered ovary has three partial placentas. The style is as long as the perianth tube. There are three stigmas, which may be forked. There is one flower per bract.
Distribution
This genus is most common in tropical Africa.
Species
The following species are accepted:
# ''
Lagarosiphon cordofanus''
(Hochst.) Casp. – Cameroon + Ethiopia to Namibia + Mpumalanga
# ''
Lagarosiphon hydrilloides''
Rendle – Ghana, Kenya, Uganda
# ''
Lagarosiphon ilicifolius''
Oberm. – Uganda to Namibia
# ''
Lagarosiphon madagascariensis''
Casp. – Madagascar
# ''
Lagarosiphon major
''Lagarosiphon major'' is a monocotic aquatic plant native to Southern Africa. Common names include African elodea, curly waterweed, oxygen weed and South African oxygen weed. It is used as freshwater aquarium plant.
It is an invasive plant in ...
''
(Ridl.) Moss – Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa
# ''
Lagarosiphon muscoides''
Harv. – Mali to Sudan to KwaZulu-Natal
# ''
Lagarosiphon rubellus''
Ridl. – Angola
# ''
Lagarosiphon steudneri''
Casp. – Ethiopia
# ''
Lagarosiphon verticillifolius''
Oberm. – Mozambique, Zimbabwe, KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini, Mpumalanga, Limpopo
References
External links
''Lagarosiphon''at the
Encyclopedia of Life
The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It aggregates content to form "pages" for every known species. Content is compiled from existing trusted ...
Hydrocharitaceae
Hydrocharitaceae genera
Aquatic plants
Dioecious plants
Taxa named by William Henry Harvey
{{Alismatales-stub