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Family: Hydrocharitaceae Life
> eukaryotes >
Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
>
Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants)
> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Monocotyledons > Order: Alismatales
Freshwater or marine herbs. Eighteen genera and about
116 species (cosmopolitan), with six genera and 13 species native to southern
Africa and three genera and three species naturalised in the region.
Genera native to southern Africa
List from Glen (2000) and
Plants
of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI).
Blyxa
One species native to southern Africa - Blyxa aubertii - recorded
from Mozambique. |
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Halophila A total of nine
species, native to warm seas around the world.
Halophila ovalis
occurs in coastal waters from KwaZulu-Natal to Knysna in the Western
Cape. It grows on soft sand or muddy substrates and is a favourite
food of the
Dugong. |
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Hydrilla
One species native to southern Africa - Hydrilla verticillata -
recorded from Mozambique. |
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Lagarosiphon Nine species,
native to tropical Africa and Madagascar, with five species native to
southern Africa. Lagarosiphon major has become naturalised in
Europe and New Zealand. |
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Ottelia A total of 21
species, native to the tropics and subtropics, with four species native to
southern Africa. |
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Vallisneria
Four species, native mainly to the tropics and subtropics, with one species,
Vallisneria
spiralis, native to southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, KwaZulu-Natal).
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Genera naturalised in southern Africa
List from Glen (2000).
Elodea canadensis (Canadian
water weed, Kanadese waterpes) is a
declared Category 1 invasive plant
in South Africa.
Publications
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