791.000 Pistia L.

Description of the genus

Free-floating aquatic, acaulescent, rosulate, herb with pendulous fibrous roots. Leaves subsessile, densely pubescent; lamina with parallel primary veins. Inflorescence hidden among leaf bases. Spathe constricted in the middle; basal part slightly inflated, convolute; apical part ± erect, expanded. Spadix highly reduced, adnate to spathe. Flowers unisexual; perianth segments 0. Male flowers 2-8, connate into a single whorl borne on a short stipe, subtended by a basal cup. Female flowers solitary; basal part consisting of a single 1-locular ovary; ovules numerous; style curved. Fruit a several-seeded berry, dehiscing by irregular splits. Seeds subcylindric, rugose.

Worldwide: 1 species occurring widely in the tropics

Zimbabwe: 1 taxon.

Pistia stratiotes

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
stratiotes L.N,W,C,SDescription, Image

Other sources of information about Pistia:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Pistia
Flora of Caprivi: Pistia
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Pistia
Flora of Malawi: Pistia
Flora of Mozambique: Pistia
Flora of Zambia: Pistia
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Pistia

External websites:

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

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Genus page: Pistia.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=305, retrieved 19 March 2024

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