Perennial aquatic herbs, rhizomatous, rooting in mud
Leaves with long swollen spongy petiole with expanded sheathing bases; blade cordate, hastate, or ovate, or sometimes all leaves submerged and linear
Flowers small, in terminal spike, rarely 2 or solitary, occasionally some cleistogamous
Perianth nearly regular, salver- or funnel-shape, blue, accrescent
Stamens 3 (1 in cleistogamous flowers), exserted; filaments arising from throat of tube; median stamen occasionally longer; anthers dorsifixed, opening by longitudinal slits
Ovary 1-locular or imperfectly 3-locular, with 3 parietal, multi-ovulate placentas; style filiform; stigma small
Capsule oblong or terete
Seeds many, ovoid, terete
Nomenclature:
Heteranthera Ruiz & Pav.
Ruiz & Pavon: 9 (1794)
Brown: 1 (1897)
Podlech: 2 (1969)
Obermeyer: 68 (1985)
Cook: 194 (1990)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species ± 9, tropical to subtropical regions of Africa and America
Southern Africa: Species 1: Heteranthera callifolia Rchb. ex Kunth (= H. kotschyana Fenzl ex Solms), Namibia, Botswana and from the Nylsvlei area in the Northern Province
OBERMEYER, A.A. 1985. Pontederiaceae. Flora of southern Africa 4,2
PODLECH, D. 1969. Pontederiaceae. Prodomus einer Flora von Südwestafrika 154
RUIZ, L.H. & PAVON, J. 1794. Flora peruvianae, et chilensis prodromus. Sancha, Madrid
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Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
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