NYMPHAEACEAE
Morphological description
Herbaceous, rhizomatous, latificerous water plants.
Leaves
Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate. Leaves usually peltate on long petioles, leaf blade on or below water surface. Leaf blade above water (Nelumbo).
Inflorescence
Inflorescence.
Flowers
Flower simple, actinomorphic, sepals 4-6 free, petals many free, stamens numerous.
Fruit
Fruit a spongy berry.
Seed
Seed.
Different from: Menyanthaceae: calyx and corolla tubular, stamens 4-5.
Distribution: The family worldwide; in Malesia 4 genera, including : - Hydrostemma, mostly in streams; - Nymphaea, ponds and other stagnant water, often cultivated.
Notes: Nelumbo is often regarded as a separate family. Many species are planted as ornamentals; rootstock and seeds of Nelumbo are edible.
Literature: .A. Backer & R.C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Fl. Java 1 (1963) 147-149; B. J. Conn in Leach & Osborne, Freshwater Plants PNG (1985) 191-201.
Spot characters (Van Balgooy): Nymphaeaceae 19, 92 - Brasenia 46, 51 - Hydrostemma (Barclaya) 51, 52 - Nelumbo 51- Nymphaea 51.
Illustrations: Fig. 122. Hydrostemma (Barclaya) kunstleri Ridl. (Nymphaeaceae). Reproduced from Hsuan Keng, Orders and Families of Malayan Seed plants (1978). Fig. 123. Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (Nymphaeaceae). Reproduced from J.J. Ochse & R.C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Vegetables of the Dutch East Indies (1980) fig. 334.
Image in PhytoImages for Nymphaeaceae