PONTEDERIACEAE
Morphological description
Herbs of freshwater.
Leaves
Leaves simple, curvinerved, leaf base sheathing. Leaves usually hastate.
Inflorescence
Inflorescence.
Flowers
Flowers bisexual, 3-merous, ovary superior, 3-celled.
Fruit
Fruit.
Seed
Seed.
Different from: Butomaceae: laticiferous, leaf base not sheathing.
Distribution: The family mostly in America. In Malesia only Monochoria native, Eichhornia introduced and naturalized.
Notes: Leaves of Monochoria are eaten. Eichhornia* is often a pest covering large stretches of open water.
Literature: C.A. Backer, Fl. Males. I, 4 (1951) 255-261.
Spot characters (Van Balgooy): nr.
Illustrations: Fig. 148. Monochoria hastata (L.) Solms (Pontederiaceae). Reproduced from Flora Malesiana I, 4 (1951) 257, fig. 1.
Image in PhytoImages for Pontederiaceae