Spermatophyta: Monocotyledonae: Commelinales

Pontederiaceae - Water hyacinth family

Catarino, L. & Martins, E.S. (2010) Pontederiaceae Flora Zambesiaca 13(2) 69-76

Obermeyer, A.A. (1985) Pontederiaceae Flora of Southern Africa 4(2)

Description of the family

Aquatic herbs, rooted or free-floating. Leaves spirally arranged, sheathing at base, often dimorphic: emergent leaves with a long, sometimes swollen, petiole and a spathulate, circular or ovate, cordate or hastate, lamina; submerged leaves linear. Inflorescence racemose or spicate. Bracts 0. Flowers bisexual. Perianth of 6 parts, in 2 series, united in a tube below, petaloid. Stamens (1-)3-6, dimorphic. Ovary superior, (1-)3-locular, with 1-many ovules. Fruit a capsule or nut (Pontederia).

Worldwide: 6 genera and 32 species, tropical and warm areas (especially America) with a few in the N temperate zones.

Zambia: 2 genera and 3 taxa.

No image yet

Links to genera:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this family

GenusContent
Eichhornia KunthDescription
Heteranthera Ruiz. & Pav.Description, Image

Other sources of information about Pontederiaceae:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Pontederiaceae
Flora of Caprivi: Pontederiaceae
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Pontederiaceae
Flora of Malawi: Pontederiaceae
Flora of Mozambique: Pontederiaceae
Flora of Zimbabwe: Pontederiaceae
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Pontederiaceae

External websites:

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



Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-24

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2024). Flora of Zambia: Family page: Pontederiaceae.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/speciesdata/family.php?family_id=183, retrieved 19 March 2024

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