PODOSTEMACEAE
Morphological description
Moss-like aquatic herbs.
Leaves
Leaves usually alternate.
Inflorescence
Flowers solitary.
Flowers
Flowers usually biexual, zygomorphic, tepals 2; ovary superior.
Fruit
Fruit a many-seeded capsule.
Seed
Seed.
Different from: Sterile specimens might be mistaken for moss.
Distribution: A nearly pantropical family confined to swift running streams, best developed in South America and Africa. In Malesia 3 genera, all rare: Cladopus, Indotristicha and Torrenticola.
Notes: notes.
Literature: C.G.G. J. van Steenis, Fl. Males. I, 4 (1949) 65- 68; ibid. I, 6 (1972) 963 - 964.
Spot characters (Van Balgooy): none mentioned
Illustrations: Fig. 146. Cladopus nymani Moll. (Podostemaceae). a. Piece of rock with fruiting plant; b. leaf; c. open flower with dehisced spathella; d. bud, lateral view; e. stem in fruit; f. flowering stem; g. bud, dorsal view; h. sterile root system, juvenile plant. Reproduced from Flora Malesiana I, 4 (1949) 66, fig. 1.
Image in PhytoImages for Podostemaceae